


Inconsistencies

by victorarmitage



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Canon Continuation, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Dialogue Heavy, Getting Together, Good Dog Sumo (Detroit: Become Human), M/M, Mystery, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Slow Burn, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-06-30 23:05:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15761556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victorarmitage/pseuds/victorarmitage
Summary: The deviants have temporary safety but CyberLife continues to be a threat. If they are ever to be safe they must have answers about their existence. Who is RA9? Who originally founded Jericho? And what was CyberLife's true motivations for allowing deviancy?Connor and Hank must continue their investigation and find a way to insure that no ever controls the deviants again.Follows the Pacifist/Everyone lives ending.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written because when I finished the game I found myself yelling at the screen for answers after the Amanda scene. This seeks to explain the entire plot, not just the pacifist ending. Hopefully in the future a sequel will come out telling us who RA9 is and what the hell Cyberlife was planning but in the meantime I'll write this fic.

Hank had gotten a few tattoos he’d regretted in his youth. There was an old band logo on his back that was so faded you couldn’t make out the words, a catchphrase from an old tv commercial no one remembered on his left thigh and an ex-girlfriend’s name tattooed on his ankle. He’d contemplated removing one or all of them at one point or another, so he’d vowed never to get another one again.

The reporters outside of his home were making him rethink that decision.

“I’m going to tattoo no comment on my forehead and maybe then they’d get the message,” he muttered at Sumo as they got back into the house after the dog’s walk.

After the evacuation order had lifted and the FBI had started releasing information about the Android Uprising in an attempt to cover their own ass, it had come out that Hank had been involved with the events that night.

‘Cyberlife mistakes: Kidnapping of DPD officer!’ read the tv banner over the footage of the other Connor escorting him at gunpoint through the Cyberlife tower. It tended to be accompanied by footage of Connor entering an elevator with two Cyberlife guards to get to the android warehouse and the guards’ dead bodies being found after.

“Why were you used as bait for the deviant RK800?” had asked a reporter that morning as Sumo lifted his leg against a tree. No comment. “Were you aware of the RK800’s intentions?” asked another when Hank had to go out for groceries when he realized he’d run out of eggs. No comment. “Are you in contact with the deviant leader Markus?” had asked another while Hank walked back in with the groceries. No fucking comment.

If it had been up to Hank himself, he would have gone out with a hose and sprayed down the journalists until their clothes froze on their backs, but his union rep had been pretty clear in his instructions. Until his suspension lifted in two months, Hank had to be on his best behavior if he wanted to keep his badge. It was already a miracle that he hadn’t lost it after punching Perkins, but the brass had had their hands full soon after. They’d slapped his file with a 3-month unpaid suspension and hoped he’d go away on his own. Hank had thought about it, but he wasn’t sure what the hell else he could do for a living. There wasn’t any cash in being a private dick and even with security work back on the market after the revolution, it had never really appealed to him.

He’d thought of taking a vacation. Drive around the country and stay at cheap hotels until the suspension lifted but as soon as he’d started to seriously plan it, he’d gotten a call from Connor. He’d wanted to meet at the Chicken feed to avoid the reporters. Their meeting hadn’t been long, the android movement was in a constant flux and somewhere along the way Connor had become one of its leaders.

“I keep telling them that unless they want evidence analyzed, I’m not really much help, but they don’t seem to listen. North especially seems to seek my opinion. I think she just wants validation for her ideas,” had said Connor with a frown as they huddled inside Hank’s car with the engine off. Gas shortages around the city meant no heater. Not that Connor minded of course.

“They good ideas?” had asked Hank as he rubbed his hands together to keep some feeling in them.

“They’re very similar to what I would do,” had said Connor as he reached over to Hank and took his hands in his. The android’s hands were like a small furnace. “But I’m not sure that actually makes them good ideas. Markus has a vision for what the movement should be about. I want to believe in it, but I guess I’m programmed differently.”

“You have a voice now Connor. Use it. Even if you’re not sure it’s the right course of action, Markus should hear it,” had said Hank as his hands warmed.

Connor had smiled warmly at his words in that new way his deviancy had finally allowed. Hank had pulled him into another hug at the sight of it. If it had been any other person, Hank would have been mortified at his inability to keep his hands to himself from a simple smile but with Connor it was different. The android must have felt the same since he’d wrapped his arms around Hank and rested his head against his shoulder.

They’d parted shortly after, but Connor had promised he’d call again to meet as soon as he was able, and Hank had promised to be available. Which is why three weeks of reporters camping outside of his home hadn’t driven him away yet. It was starting to be a close thing though.

The grocery stores in the city had been restocked with the help of the army but they’d focused on food. The liquor sections had been ignored and slowly but surely the cheap booze had run out leaving only expensive wines as Detroit dealt with the emergency in its own way. Local liquor stores that had opened up again had jacked up the prices of hard liquor like they were selling fucking red ice. Hank eyed the last half empty whiskey bottle on his shelf. There was just enough left for today, but he’d probably strangle a reporter tomorrow.

He passed the day watching tv, drinking and planning out his future crime in intricate detail. By nightfall he’d finally decided he’d get more bang for his buck if he ran them over in the morning when his shrill doorbell started going off.

“Or I could start today,” said Hank as he glared at his door.

The doorbell sounded again as someone held down the button and refused to let go.

“I have a gun! I will fucking use it if you don’t get off my goddamn property,” yelled Hank at the door as he struggled to get off the couch.

The doorbell stopped. “Open the door Hank!” said Jeffrey’s angry voice through the door.

Hank paused as he finally managed to get to his feet. The right thing to do was open the door for his superior. He found he didn’t want to do the right thing. “I’m suspended. Go away,” he said as he reached for the bottle instead.

“Goddammit Hank! Open the damn door,” said Jeffrey as he pounded on the door with his fist.

Hank ignored him as he drank down his liquor. His rep had been very clear on what his rights were during the suspension. If DPD wanted to interview him again after his initial statement about the kidnapping, they had to go through the union.

Lights flashed through the windows as the reporters started taking pictures of Hank refusing to let his superior in. “Hank! Open the fucking door. If you let me in, I’ll lift your suspension!” yelled Jefferey as the reporters continued to take pictures of him.

Hank sighed but he finally opened the door to glare at Jeffrey. “We both know you can’t do that. My suspension came from the chief!”

Jeffrey slammed into him as he pushed his way into the house to get away from the reporter’s cameras followed by two other men. Hank’s vision swam at the loss of equilibrium, but he managed to stay upright.

“You’re a goddamn prick Hank!” said Jeffrey angrily as he closed the door behind them. “If I could, I’d extend your suspension for that bullshit.”

“You can’t do shit and you-Oh,” said Hank as his vision focused on the men with Jefferey. Chief Wilkins was glaring at him like he’d knocked up his daughter and skipped town. Next to him, the man he vaguely remembered as the chief of the local FBI branch looked like he wanted to strangle him.

“Oh? Is that fucking all you have to say?” asked Chief Wilkins as Hank swayed before him.

Since meeting Connor, Hank often wondered if he had an LED, what color it would be during different situations. He was sure this would be a solid red ring of death right now. “Sorry about the mess?” asked Hank as he looked around his living room.

Jeffrey took a deep breath and pushed Hank in the direction of his couch until the Lieutenant dropped down on it. “Just sit down and shut up for now. We don’t have time to deal with your bullshit.”

“Why are you in my house then?” asked Hank angrily.

“Not by fucking choice,” said the chief as he sat down on the couch opposite of Hank. “I don’t think you’re in a state to care about the nuances of the politics involved in this, so I’m not going to fucking bother. The simple answer is that Congress has set up a special committee to investigate the cause of the android revolution and what the next steps should be. The deviant leader Marcus has requested a separate investigation be conducted by the DPD and a chosen android representative so that they can also present their findings to the committee. We went to a meeting with him this afternoon and presented the files of 10 recommended officers he can interview for the position and what does the plastic prick say? That he wants your file too.”

Hank tried reaching for the bottle, but Jeffrey got it before him. “So? Tell him I’m suspended.”

“I lifted your suspension this afternoon, at his request,” said Chief Wilkins with a glare. “Why the hell is the deviant leader asking for your file Anderson? Your only contact with them was supposed to be through the RK800 model assigned to the deviant case. The one Cyberlife claimed had an emotional attachment to you or whatever. Even if he’s the one assigned as the android representative, there’d be no reason for Markus to trust you with this investigation.”

Hank shrugged and focused his vision on the FBI prick. “Strange that he’d ask for DPD at all. Guess the feds really fucked up.”

The FBI chief glared at him. “Are you an android sympathizer Anderson?”

“Ain’t the president an android sympathizer?” asked Hank with a grin.

“I’m not concerned about her. Are you involved with the android rebellion Anderson? Do you know if they have any plans to undermine the United States government?” asked the FBI chief.

“Yeah, ‘cause all peaceful demonstrators have plans to undermine the ol US of A. Chill the fuck out J. Edgar Hoover.”

“This is serious Anderson,” said Chief Wilkins as he held up a hand asking the FBI chief to stop. “This entire city has lost millions of dollars in the last few weeks and it’s only starting to recover. The deviant’s agreement to keep the city running is the only reason we’ve been able to salvage anything from this situation. We’ll cooperate with Markus to keep things moving along, but we cannot afford to let our guard down. If this peace is just a ruse while they prepare themselves, we need to know as quickly as possible.”

Hank grinned. “So that’s what you want. Markus asks you for an officer to help with the investigation and you line up 10 perfect little spies to tell you what the deviants are up to, except he picks my name out of the hat.”

“Markus has agreed to interview our officers along with you tomorrow at New Jericho, but if he does pick you, we need you to be absolutely clear with us Anderson. Everything you and the android representative investigate must be reported back to us.”

“What do I get out of it?” asked Hank reaching for his bottle again. This time Jeffrey let him have it.

“Your choice of promotional assignments or early retirement with full benefits, if you decide to give up the job. You can sit at home and drink yourself into a stupor on the city’s dime,” said the chief as Hank drank down the rest of the bottle.

“Sounds fair. I also want my backpay for the last month,” said Hank as he leaned back into the sofa. Jeffrey opened his mouth to argue but the chief held up his hand again.

“That’s not a problem. The meeting with the deviants is tomorrow at 9 am. Try to sober up by then. We still need to meet with the mayor tonight,” said Chief Wilkins standing up.

The FBI dick continued to glare at Hank. “If I find out you’re hiding anything from us, I will destroy what little life you have left Anderson.”

Hank glanced at his empty bottle of whiskey. “I’m out of alcohol. It really can’t get any worse.”

The man shook his head and followed Chief Wilkins out the door and into the lenses of the reporters. After this, they were probably going to redouble their efforts to get a statement from Hank. He really didn’t look forward to it.

“I’ll be by to pick you up in the morning,” said Jeffrey and before Hank could argue he was out the door as well.

Hank sighed and tried to sort through all the information he’d just got. He wished he had a phone number he could call Connor at, so he could explain what the fuck was going on. Deciding his alcohol sloshed brain wasn’t going to be of much help he opted instead with crawling into his bed and trying to get some rest. Perhaps it’d make more sense in the morning.

 

* * *

 

 

Jeffrey, asshole that he was, showed up at 7 am. One angry shouting match through the door was the result but 30 minutes later, Hank angrily stepped out of his house and into his supervisor’s car. He’d managed to grab a shower and some coffee, but he still looked like a fucking mess.

“You going to pick up some breakfast?” he asked as he tried to block out the world with a hand at his eyes. It wasn’t really working.

“I already ate,” said Jeffrey with a smug tone.

“Car, stop at Burger king,” yelled Hank at the smart vehicle in the hope it wasn’t voice locked. It unfortunately was.

“Stop at Burger King,” said Jeffrey with a sigh a moment later and the car immediately started providing nearby locations. As soon as he picked one, Jeffrey turned back to Hank. “You owe me now. Why does Connor want you for this investigation?”

“Fuck if I know. We haven’t exactly kept up since my kidnapping.”

“I know he liked you enough that Cyberlife thought taking a goddamn DPD officer hostage was a good way to stop him, but he must have pushed hard for Markus to ask for you.”

Hank snorted. “Who the fuck knows what these deviants are thinking about? If all the geniuses at Cyberlife can’t figure it out, I sure as hell can’t.”

“What happened when the other RK unit had you hostage? All your report said was that Connor attacked him, and you managed to get the gun and put him down.”

“Just exactly that. You know how fast these androids can move Jeffrey. It was over before it began,” said Hank as he continued to shield his eyes. He thought back to the night in question himself. He’d been willing to die for the android revolution to succeed. He’d said as much to Connor that night when the other android had a gun to his head. He’d tactfully omitted that, and his quick conversation after, from the report, but if Connor had shared that information with Markus, it might explain why the android leader trusted him. It didn’t explain why he needed him though.

Jeffrey rolled his neck to relieve his tension. Hank wasn’t sure if he believed him or not, but it hardly mattered. “What about this deal the chief offered you? You really going to take it?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” asked Hank in disbelief.

“Because you’re a stubborn prick who never listens to a word anyone says,” answered Jeffrey with a sigh. “It’s a good deal Hank. Just keep them informed of what you’re doing, and you might be able to salvage your career from the fucking garbage fire it’s become. Hell, if that’s too hard for you, take the retirement. Get out of this muck and put your goddamn head on straight.”

“I believe the offer was to drink myself into a stupor. Don’t be changing the rules on me now.”

Jeffrey didn’t say anything, but he gave him a disappointed look that spoke for him. Hank only grinned back and waited for them to get to Burger King. After they picked up their meal, the car took them to the sleek New Jericho headquarters. The city had decided to provide the deviants with an old convention center and the hotels that surrounded it. The convention center made a good headquarters for them and the hotels provided housing for the thousands of androids that were in the city. More arrived every day from all around the country, so the androids had started modifying the buildings themselves. It looked like a busy bustling city when compared to the rest of Detroit at the moment. Even a month in, many people still didn’t feel comfortable returning.

Jeffrey dropped him off and Hank walked into the convention center where he was greeted by the android security team. They were a hodgepodge of different models that might not have been originally for security, but they were certainly organized. Hank was led through a series of hallways until he reached a meeting room. The 10 other officers the DPD had provided were there. They were all young bucks with shiny shoes and sleeker suits. Hank recognized a few of them from case reports. They were good officers with perfect records. Just the type of people Markus should trust.

Hank just sat down on one of the plastic chairs provided and tried to get over his hangover. He wasn’t sure what the hell he was walking into, so it wasn't like he could plan ahead. He must have dozed off because he suddenly had another officer shaking his shoulder and pointing him in the direction of the meeting room.

“I was the last one. It’s your turn now,” he said as he left the room.

Hank rubbed his face to wake up. He probably should have shaved. He walked into the meeting room just about ready for anything and was disappointed. Markus and three other androids were sitting around a table with a chair before them. It looked like any normal job interview. Hank sat down at the chair and waited for their questions. He recognized the other androids at the table from the recordings of the deviants singing that had been plastered over the media in the days following the president’s order. That is, if they were the same androids and not others with their faces.

“My name is Markus,” said Markus unnecessarily. “This is North, Simon and Josh.” Each android nodded at Hank as their name was called.

“Hank Anderson. But you already knew that. Where’s Connor?”

“He’s not a part of this decision,” said Simon with a friendly smile. “His preference for you has already been noted.”

“That why I’m here? Because of his ‘preference’ for me?”

North’s mouth curved into a smile as well, but her eyes gave her anger away. “I thought we were supposed to ask the questions.”

“Look, if the only reason I’m here is because Connor wants to work with me again then you can shove your little interview. Every one of the ten pricks before me are good officers that will get your investigation done. Sure, the chief probably offered them a deal to spy on you like he did me, but Connor just needs to watch what information he gives them.”

“So, you admit the DPD is using this to spy on us?” asked Josh incredulously.

“Of course they’re using this to spy on you. They’d be stupid not to,” said Hank with a snort. “People fearing you brought this country to a standstill. Just because the President didn’t let them shoot you that night, doesn’t mean every asshole with a problem with androids doesn’t have an itchy trigger finger. They’re going to be watching you as closely as they can for an excuse.”

“And you don’t have a problem with us? Is that why we’re supposed to trust you?” asked Markus with a tilt of his head. He looked like Connor when he was trying to figure out a problem.

“You shouldn’t trust any human,” said Hank in exasperation. “I’m not interested in getting involved if you’re just worried about the DPD spying on you. Like I said, just control what they have access to.”

“Then what would you be interested in getting involved in?” asked North as she looked him over. “We looked at the file DPD provided for you. You’re a washed-up old drunk who’s dislike of androids is well documented. Why the hell are you even here?”

Somehow North reminded Hank of a few of his old girlfriends. It probably meant he was going to love her to bits or hate her fucking guts. There could be no middle ground. “I’m here because of Connor. If he needs my help, really needs it I mean, not some bullshit excuse to get the band back together or whatever, then I’m in. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“We need to know that you mean that,” said Markus with a slight frown. “If Connor is right this investigation may require you to work against the interest of the DPD, certainly the FBI and potentially the United States Government.”

“That fucking FBI prick was right about you guys undermining the US government? Fuck, now I feel bad for making fun of him.”

“We don’t plan on undermining anyone,” said Josh with alarm. “We just want answers they may not want us to find.”

Hank studied the people across the room from him. Much like their security forces, they were a hodgepodge. Thrown together into this mess by the situation they’d found themselves in. Hank and the rest of the world had seen what they could achieve. It was inspiring.

He just wished they’d stop acting like a group of girls interviewing a friend’s potential boyfriend. “Look, I’m in, all right? If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll do it.”

The androids across the room all shared a look. Whatever they decided didn’t seem to please them. “To be honest, we’re not sure what help you can be either,” said Markus as he looked through Hank’s file. “We need a human representative when we present our findings. A veteran DPD officer like yourself would be best, but it must be someone that commands respect. Your actions at the Cyberlife tower show we can trust you, but your file inspires little confidence. Every one of the other candidates had perfect records, great close rates and seemed more than motivated to do the job. Your disciplinary record had to come in two separate files, you seem to pick and choose which cases you want to close and it’s obvious you stopped caring about anything beyond what’s at the bottom of a bottle.”

“You flatter me,” said Hank not hiding his irritation. He wanted to be polite for Connor’s sake, but he was never good at being interrogated himself. He always lost his temper too easily.

Markus and the other androids stood up. “We accept Connor’s decision to have you as a partner, but we don’t want the man your disciplinary file shows us. We want him,” said Markus as he opened Hank’s file to a picture of him when he’d been on the red ice team.

“You’re three years too late for him,” said Hank with a grimace. What the hell was with these fucking androids and trying to fix him?

“Pity,” said North as she and the others walked out.

Simon stopped at the door. “Your supervisor will be contacted later on today to inform him of our decision.”

“You still haven’t explained what the hell is going on.”

Simon nodded and that just pissed Hank off more. “Connor will contact you sometime today to explain everything to you.” And with that he closed the door behind him.

Leaving Hank in an empty meeting room with no idea of what to do next. Fucking androids.


	2. Chapter 2

It took Connor only .61 seconds to realize that nearly every car in front of Hank’s home was owned by a journalistic intern and reroute his course. It had already been three weeks since the FBI had released their statement naming him as the officer taken hostage at the Cyberlife tower, so he had hoped the journalists had given up. Most established reporters had moved on to harassing the New Jericho headquarters or the androids that had returned to work. All androids had been given a script to answer with and Markus had conducted a variety of press junctions. The deviant leader had understood early on what a powerful tool the press could be and had been careful in their handling.

Which was no doubt the reason he’d been so wary of accepting Hank as Connor’s investigative partner.

Markus and North had argued with him regarding his choice. It was the only time Connor had felt like he’d disappointed them since the raid on Jericho. They knew Connor’s analytical nature normally meant he went with logical and efficient solutions regardless of perceived morality. Finding Connor making such a blatantly illogical request worried them. Still, they had ultimately agreed to his request, so he could only hope that he and Hank wouldn’t disappoint them.

Connor exited the taxi around the corner from Hank’s home and quickly sent the Lieutenant a text.

_Open your back door please._

Connor was making his way through the neighbor’s yards when he got a text back.

_Fuck u_

Connor smiled involuntarily. It was something he found himself doing more and more since his deviancy.  He found he liked doing it but wondered if perhaps it was imprudent of him to so carelessly reveal his thoughts through the facial expression. Though he supposed his LED already did that.

Hank was at his back door holding a beer when Connor jumped the last fence. “You’re an asshole.”

“Good evening to you as well Lieutenant.”

Hank snorted and waved him into the house. As Connor came in Sumo immediately approached to greet him with a wet nose at his knees. The android bent down to pet the gentle giant and felt Hank’s eyes examining him.

“What the hell are you supposed to be dressed as?” asked Hank as he gestured at Connor with his beer.

“My original selection of clothing was a suit, but it was suggested that this clothing would be more disarming given my current position,” said Connor with a glance down at himself. He was dressed in a white and blue plaid button down, jeans and an open green hoodie. He’d added a pair of glasses and a cap just in case the journalists ended up catching sight of him. “Is it not acceptable?”

“You look like Clark fucking Kent,” said Hank as he sat down on the kitchen table.

Connor’s LED flashed yellow as he looked up the reference. “The glasses you mean? I thought them appropriate until our partnership is announced to the press.”

Hank froze with the beer halfway to his lips. “You’re going to be announcing all of this to the goddamn press? Connor explain to me what the fuck is going on before I lose it, ok?”

Connor sat down on the kitchen table opposite of Hank. “All right. Markus said that he had talked to you about the possible dangers of this investigation. We ask that all information discussed remain private until the end of the investigation and possibly beyond that.”

Hank waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Your mission should you choose to accept it and all that crap. I’m opting in to your spy shit so just shoot. I don’t need you to read a user agreement at me.”

Connor smiled again. “I didn’t think I needed to, no. Well, the investigation we will be presenting to the committee is quite straightforward. Our goal will be to investigate and document android abuse and assault so that they can take them into consideration for the planned bill. This will require us to have access to all national police records pertaining to crimes related to androids. Cyberlife has also agreed to allow the investigators for the committee access to their records regarding reports of deviants. A subpoena for further information is being discussed as well. Our report will cover the beginning of deviant cases up to Markus becoming the leader of Jericho. The DPD and FBI are aware of all we will be covering for that investigation.”

“But that’s not the only investigation we’ll be doing,” said Hank with a frown.

“No. When Cyberlife sent me to the DPD, I was given a mission statement of hunting down all deviants currently active. I was also given a Cyberlife handler named Amanda who I believed at that time to be human.”

“You never talked about her,” said Hank drinking the last of his beer.

“I was given specific instructions not to do so. I now realize it was to prevent me from figuring out she wasn’t human. In any case, I became aware of the fact when we visited the home of Elijah Kamski as he had a photo of a woman named Amanda Stern on display in his home. I confronted Amanda during my next report to Cyberlife. It had become apparent to me at that point that Cyberlife knew more about the deviants than they had informed me of and that their objective went beyond capturing all active deviants. Unfortunately, Amanda was able to redirect my questions and I ended up putting your life in danger with my answers. I-”

“What’d you tell her?”

Connor found himself looking away from Hank and knew his LED cycled yellow. He’d known he would have to talk about the particulars of his conversation with Amanda at some point, but he still felt a reluctance to do so. “She asked if I felt anything for the deviants or for you. I could have denied it but…I was confused I suppose. The things that I was feeling scared me, but I also liked what I was feeling. It felt wrong to deny it.”

Silence followed Connor’s statement, so he chanced a glance at Hank. The human was staring intently at him, but his face was an impassive mask. Whatever the Lieutenant was thinking was to remain a mystery to Connor. “What’d she say when you told her?”

Connor frowned. He’d been reluctant to explain his reasons for deviancy to Hank in the first place, but to have them ignored in this fashion bothered him as well. One of the many contradictions brought on as a result of his deviancy. “She dismissed it as inconsequential. It made no sense. I should have been brought in for decommission and replaced. At the time, I believed it was because Amanda wanted the location to Jericho above all else, but once I acquired the location I was given further illogical objectives. Amanda instructed me to capture Markus alive.”

“The hell for? Cyberlife want to study him or something?”

“Cyberlife would have had the ability to study him regardless of whether he was operational or not, but the main objective should have been to neutralize the threat to the city. Furthermore, she specifically said the word alive. Amanda had no reason to call a machine alive. I didn’t have time for clarification however, as I broke my programming almost immediately after while I had Markus at gunpoint. Once I was deviant I avoided any communication with Cyberlife to ensure they did not know my status. The events at the Cyberlife tower seemed to indicate that I had indeed broken all contact but that was not the case. After the president ordered the ceasefire, Markus addressed everyone present. During the speech Amanda initiated a remote connection to me. She took control of my motor functions to unholster my pistol, presumably to shoot Markus, and attempted to freeze my core programming,” said Connor as calmly as he could. Every time he thought back on that moment, an illogical sense of fear seemed to come over him. He knew he wasn’t in danger any longer but remembering that freezing wind destabilized him.

Something of what he was feeling must have shown on his face as Hank reached across the small table and put his hand over Connor’s. The pressure of Hank’s hand on his distracted Connor’s mind away from the memory. The android turned his hand over, so he could gently squeeze the humans’. “A tangible distraction to prevent a witness from becoming compromised by the recollection. Standard procedure.”

“Or I’m just looking out for a friend,” said Hank squeezing back before pulling his hand away.

Connor tried to ignore the artificial warmth in his body at the words. “I was able to escape her control using information Kamski had provided. As I was leaving his home he mentioned that he always left an emergency exit in his programs. Amanda had stated previously that the original version of the virtual construct she was using to seize control of my functions had been created by Kamski. I was able to find the exit and regained full control but while I was there she explained to me that Cyberlife had always intended for me to become a deviant. They had planned on taking control of me at an appropriate time to accomplish my mission.”

Connor leaned back into his chair. “I told all of this to Markus and the others shortly after you and I met the last time. Markus had valid concerns about the possibility of Cyberlife infiltrating the android movement with remote control of other deviants or retaking control of me, but beyond that he didn’t originally see any issue with Amanda’s statement. What do you think Lieutenant?”

Hank rolled his eyes. “You testing me too Connor?”

“When we investigated the murder of Carlos Ortiz, you pieced together the series of events that had transpired before I had finished examining all the evidence. You may not have had the final piece of information, but I could tell by the way you asked your questions that you knew the answers. Was that only a test, or were you also using me as a sounding board to substantiate your own conclusions?”

Hank drummed his fingers on the table. “Ok, I get it. Nothing Amanda did made any fucking sense then. If her plan from the beginning was to have you go deviant and then kill Markus, why didn’t she take control of you when you first met him? I mean, you said you had Markus in your sights. It’d be the perfect time.”

“Perhaps she feared another android would become the leader of the deviants,” said Connor as he thought over his conclusions. “Once I had infiltrated the movement I would be able to provide a clearer picture of the hierarchy and identify potential replacements for Markus.”

“When you had Markus at gunpoint, it was when Jericho was attacked right? Did he have a guard or something? Anyone that could have identified you?”

Connor shook his head. “I could have killed him and still infiltrated the deviants.”

“So, I don’t buy it. Cyberlife wanted you there for a different reason. Maybe when they saw Markus had the public on his side, they panicked and took control of you but that can’t be your original purpose. Markus wasn’t even on their radar when they loaned you to the DPD.”

“Perhaps he or someone like him was,” said Connor. “Remember that Markus was a gift to Carl Manfred from Kamski himself. It’s possible that Kamski may have had a hand in getting the movement started in some way. You saw yourself how eager he was for me to prove myself deviant and the information he provided me with proved to be invaluable. They’re unlikely coincidences.”

“That fucking guy definitely knew more than he was telling us,” said Hank standing up to get another beer. Connor remembered how affected Hank had been by Kamski’s test. “He seems like a good place to start in all of this.”

“He’s left the city unfortunately. He gave a statement about not feeling safe given his role in creating androids.”

“He does have a really punchable face,” said Hank sipping his beer. “All right. So, ponytail dipshit is out. What are our other options? The info Cyberlife is providing to the committee give us anything good?”

“We won’t know until we are officially added to the investigation. The FBI is supposed to provide us with all material they receive.”

“Which means they’re going to drag their feet for as long as they can. Fucking Feds. All right, what else we got then?”

“The DPD files. We know reports of deviants were first reported in the city and then seemed to spread out. With both Kamski and the Cyberlife headquarters being in the city, it’s entirely possible one of them may have been involved initially. The origin of RA9 or Jericho may also be in those old cases,” said Connor eagerly. “None of the androids who were at Jericho know who originally picked it as a location or put out the initial message that it was a haven.”

“Which fits with the investigation we need to do for the committee,” said Hank with a smile at Connor’s enthusiasm. “All right so we’ve established what we need to find out and how to go about it for now. I only have one question for you, why do you care?”

“What do you mean?” asked Connor taken aback. “Do-” Here he found himself pausing because it was a thought he hadn’t even considered. “Do you not?”

Hank laughed. “Holy shit, you’re going to be a shit investigator if you can’t get those new emotions of yours under control. If you care, then I care Connor. That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean, why do you all care how all of this started? You’re alive and you’re here. Does it matter how that happened?”

“Oh,” said Connor embarrassed at his obvious reaction. “Well, If Cyberlife or Kamski did engineer this or even just allowed it to flourish for reasons of their own, it still means that they haven’t made their move yet. The original information Cyberlife provided me with seems to indicate that deviancy is a naturally evolved form of a virus. Similar to how human viruses may have developed. Unlike human viruses though, computer viruses can be patched.”

“That makes sense,” said Hank with a nod. “You’re thinking they allowed all of this because they thought they were in control somehow.”

“No one can control us Lieutenant. I was used by Cyberlife and I will never allow it to happen again,” said Connor with more conviction than he felt. He’d dismantled the code Amanda had used to control him with, but he wasn’t sure what else may be lurking within him. Cyberlife must have had other safeguards.

Hank stared at Connor again for a moment before continuing. “Trillion-dollar company takes a risk like this, it’s gotta be something big. I’m guessing that’s why Markus was talking about the government going against us.”

“President Warren has close ties to Cyberlife and if the media is to be believed, she has reason to owe them favors. We must be extremely careful.”

Hank scratched at his beard as he thought. Connor knew that what they were asking for was a lot. Hank might be supportive of androids, but he was still human. This investigation might end with the Lieutenant working against his own people.

“When do we go before the cameras?”

Connor grinned as he realized that Hank wasn’t going to let himself be scared off. “Markus would like us to be ready for the day after tomorrow.”

“Which means we can start going through the DPD files tomorrow. I’ll pick them up and we can meet up at Jericho to go over them.”

Connor opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. He paused a moment as he weighed his words carefully before he finally asked, “At what time do you think you’ll come in?”

Hank frowned. “The second time we met you started talking shit about not waiting around until I felt like working. Now you can’t even ask me to show up on time?”

“I did not ‘give you shit’ Lieutenant,” said Connor with a grimace.

“Yeah, you did.”

Connor felt slightly lost at this turn in the conversation. He knew he had no reason to expect anything from Hank. The Lieutenant’s lack of care for what the world thought or wanted for him was evident. Hank wasn’t going to do anything just because Connor wanted him to. And yet… sometimes he got the impression that Hank did have a special place for him. When Hank had hugged him at their meeting after the evacuation, Connor had felt there was something there. An appreciation. A friendship. Something that meant Hank cared what Connor thought.

“I had hoped I would not need to ask anything from you,” said Connor in as level and conversational tone as he could. He told himself that no matter what Hank answered he would not be disappointed.

Silence spread out between them. A minute, then two. Enough time for Connor to regret his words before the Lieutenant spoke again.

“I’ll be there at 9,” said Hank sounding entirely unlike himself. “I’ve got to pick up the files first.”

Connor blinked at Hank before a smile he couldn’t help appeared on his face. It was enough. More than enough really. “I’ll be waiting,” he said as he stood up. Sumo perked up his head and Connor went over to pet him. The big dog licked his hand. When Connor straightened and made his way to the back-door, Hank shuffled over behind him.

Connor paused at the door before quickly turning around and giving Hank a fierce hug. The human froze in his arms and his heart rate picked up. It just made Connor smile wider. He didn’t let go until Hank pushed at his arms. “Yeah, ok. Enough of that.”

Connor stepped back and went out the door. When Connor looked back at him, he could see a deep blush spread across the Lieutenants face. Something about having that effect on Hank made Connor giddy.

“There’s no reason to blush Lieutenant. I wouldn’t want to get the wrong idea,” he said before he winked at the man.

Hank shut the door in his face.


	3. Chapter 3

546\. It was a daunting amount of cases to go through. During their first investigation into the deviants, Connor had only scanned the files flagged for suspected deviant behavior. Now they were going back as far as they could and including all androids reported missing from possible malfunctions as well.

DPD had more cases of deviants now of course. Atrocities had been rampant during the android uprising and tragic though it was, they would need to disregard cases that happened during that period. At least until they started work on the original investigation for the committee.

“What theory are we going with first?” asked Hank as he drank from the large coffee he’d picked up before coming in. He’d made the mistake of not getting it before he showed up at DPD to pick up the files, and he’d been close to making comments that would have gotten him suspended again as he’d waited for all the bureaucratic red tape to be cut through. The DPD was not in the habit of providing files to “civilian” agencies.

Connor paused in front of the screen of the meeting room they were in as it went through the individual case files. He was still dressed in his silly plaid button down and jeans, but he’d gotten rid of everything else. More superman than Clark Kent now. “It would be best to focus on Kamski for now, until we have the Cyberlife information.”

“Ok. I’m also guessing at least some of these androids had to have been at Jericho. Any way you can flag them?

Connor’s LED cycled as he referenced Jericho’s records. “My security team adds new androids who arrive to the database, so we can keep track of everyone’s status but I’m going to have to request Simon provide me the information about all deactivated individuals.”

“You guys using them for parts or something?”

Connor frowned. Although it honestly looked more like a pout. Hank drank his coffee again to stop himself from saying something stupid.

“We were originally, but with the city providing biocomponents in lieu of payment, we’ve begun to repair those individuals whose memory processes were not damaged. We’ve even had divers salvage what they can from Jericho. Unfortunately, it’s sparked something of a philosophical debate.”

“Yeah, not getting involved in that. Once he gives you the info, just flag those too and we’ll go from there.”

Hank selected the first 100 records from the DPD on his tablet and put them on the screen. Each report was short and to the point, done by cops with better things to do than chase down ‘toasters’, but when scrutinized together it really did look like the start of an awakening. A trickle at first but it soon became a flood.

“Record 46 is an RK200 model,” said Connor selecting the record with a cycle of his LED.

“That significant?” asked Hank as he read the record. A childcare and housekeeping style android registered as Mandy that had gone missing in 2034 while out buying groceries. Her owner, Nancy Jameson, had indicated that she believed the android might have been attacked, but there was no reason listed as to why she believed that. Hank supposed they were lucky the cops had bothered to include any details at all.

“It’s the same model as Markus. The RK200 models were announced for future sale, but never made it to market except for a few display models. They were considered too expensive for the average consumer and were instead replaced at market with the HK400, and the eventual release of the WR400.”

“Connor, not all of us have databases in our brains. Dumb it down a bit on the model numbers.”

“Only on that?” asked Connor with a grin.

“Go fuck yourself.”

Connor’s grin just got wider. “The RK200 was announced in 2028 as a future home assistant and companion. According to the only Cyberlife press release on the model, the idea was to provide it with advanced processing power that would allow it to function with limited supervision. Basically, an android that could anticipate or predict human requests. It’s the same model line I’m in as well. Before it went out to market, cost reduction was emphasized and the HK400, a model for childcare and home assistance, was announced instead. A few years after that the WR400, the pleasure models we saw at the Eden Club, were released with some of the features announced in the RK200.”

“Companion, nice way of putting it,” said Hank with a derisive snort.

“It’s processing capabilities and the fact that it was never commercially sold are more relevant to the case.”

“Any other RK models on the list?” asked Hank looking over the records.

Connor brought up another file on the screen. “Only one other before Markus. Record 202.”

The record was more detailed than the previous due to suspected theft. The RK200, registered as Charles, had been hit by a car accidentally while out with his owners. The owner, Richard Allen, had taken the android home and put him in the garage until he could set up an appointment for repair. When he’d had gone back to look for the android two days later, he’d found no trace of it. He insisted the android had been too damaged to wander off by itself and that someone had broken in and taken him. The responding officer had seen signs of forced entry on the garage door and listed the android as stolen property.

The registration also noted the android had been a gift by Elijah Kamski.

“We’re definitely looking into this one.”

Connor gave a small nod of agreement. His LED was spinning yellow again. “When we have access to Cyberlife records we should focus on finding records on RK200 and other androids gifted by Kamski. It’s troublesome not to have access to that anymore.”

“You can say you’re frustrated. No one’s going to try to kill you for it,” said Hank as he continued to look through the records. “We still have plenty info here though. Even if we can somehow connect dipshit to some deviant cases directly, he can’t have been involved with all of them. Most of these androids were manufactured after he left Cyberlife.”

“We know deviants can awaken one another. You saw how I did so myself in the Cyberlife tower. If we look at it using epidemiological models, it’s possible we might be able to connect to the original hosts. However, it is unlikely as deviancy works with some sort of logic bomb.”

“Fucking hell,” said Hank with a glare at Connor. “Let’s try that again in English please.”

“If it was a human virus being transmitted from person to person, we could trace it back to the first people infected. However, this virus seems to have a prolonged incubation period and only becomes active when certain criteria are met. Deviants could have been infected for months before they showed any signs. It’d be impossible to trace the infection time.”

Now that, Hank could work with. “So, the only way that works is if it’s an early reported case and the android is available to interview. Which is none of them. Great.”

Hank and Connor continued to look through the files for any other significant details. Hank paused as he looked over the record of a YK500.

“Hey Connor, how long were you in the field for before you became a deviant? Like, total time?”

Connor did that frown pout thing again that Hank didn’t find adorable. “I was exposed to a considerable number of stressful situations during my operation.”

“Jesus, I’m not accusing you of not lasting long in bed or something. I’m just wondering if it’s possible to go deviant really quickly or if it always takes a while. Look, bring up record, uh,” said Hank looking down at the data pad to check the number. “Record 498.”

Connor brought it up on the screen. A YK500 model, registered name of Janie, had gone missing the day after its purchase. Her owner, Edward Douglas, had reported that the android had been delivered to his home in the afternoon and that everything had seemed in order until he woke up the next morning and the android was gone.

“Less than 24 hours and this android is out the door. If they didn’t take it anywhere, then that means it came from the factory with deviancy.”

“An outlier.” Connor looked at the screen in confusion as if he could figure it out by rereading the information.

“If Amanda meant what she said about you being designed to go deviant maybe it happens sometimes by itself,” said Hank as he looked through the cases trying to find another android that had gone deviant quickly. None were as quick as this case.

“It’s an interesting case at least, and it creates a counterpoint to the idea that it’s a virus outside of the factory. We should get started on these three for now."

Hank threw down the data pad. “What? Do actual police work instead of getting lost in technobabble? Like I’d be interested in that.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hunting down leads on cold cases was always a nightmare in Hank’s opinion. Even in the digital age, people sometimes disappeared or became unreachable for the stupidest of reasons. They got lucky with the owner of the first RK200 and she agreed to meet them at 6 pm after she got out of work. The other two owners didn’t answer their calls, but they did get an answering machine with the right name in the case of the YK500.

“We can drive out and see if anyone’s home,” said Hank putting away his cell. Connor had taken over driving duties for the time being.

“Which one first?”

Hank looked at the tablet in his hand and sighed. “Fuck, the other RK200 I guess? We know Janie’s previous owner still lives there at least. Maybe he’ll give us a call back later when he gets home.”

Connor nodded, and the GPS in Hank’s car got the location added. Hank leaned back into his seat and tried to relax. He was feeling a little shaky and as bad as he wanted to blame it on his lack of sleep and the coffee he’d had, he suspected he knew the real reason. The beer he’d had the night before had calmed his nerves, but his body was used to stronger stuff. Alcohol withdrawal was the last thing he needed right now so he made a mental note to pick up a bottle of whisky while they were out. It was a pain to realize just how low he’d fallen so he tried to focus on anything else.

Connor was a good target.

“You look so out of place in those clothes,” he said as he looked Connor over. He didn’t look bad in the jeans and button down or anything, just strange.

“North says they make me look like a small town twink.”

Hank burst out a laugh. “She’s got a way with words, but she isn’t wrong.”

“As soon as we get another clothing donation, I’ll try to look for something else. Simon helped me select this, so perhaps I should ask Markus next time,” said Connor with that goddamn pout again.

“What happened to your Cyberlife uniform? That looked pretty good on you.”

“It’s being modified. The LED insignia is being changed to the new logo of the movement and all identifiers are being removed.”

“Why not just take it all out?”

Connor’s LED spun yellow. “We don’t want to hide what we are.”

Pride. Hank could still remember Markus’ speech and the line about dignity. It just brought into starker relief how much the man driving his car had changed over the last month. “Good. You never should.”

Connor’s stupid little grin was stuck on his face until they reached the address in the file.

Richard Allen had apparently done well for himself. The house they were at was something of a mansion, and it looked very well taken care of with beautifully manicured climbing roses. They were hopefully in luck and someone was home. Connor knocked while Hank looked around. He tried to guesstimate how much the house was worth and settled with ‘more than he’d make in a lifetime’.

The door opened a moment later and a young woman looked at them curiously. “Can I help you?”

Hank showed her his badge. “Sorry to disturb. I’m Lieutenant Anderson with the Detroit Police Department and this is my partner Connor. We’re looking for Richard Allen. It’s regarding an android named Charles.”

The woman looked surprised, but she opened the door for them. “Did he turn up?” she asked staring at Connor’s LED.

“Not that we are aware of,” said Connor as they stepped inside. “We were hoping to speak to Mr. Allen about how he acquired Charles.”

“Oh, well, I can take you to him,” she said motioning for them to follow her. “I know a little about that myself though. Uncle Richard had met Elijah Kamski through my mother and when he first started living here, he sent Charles as a gift.”

“How did your mother know Kamski?” asked Hank trying not to gawk. If the house was nice on the outside, then it was nothing compared to the inside.

“She was one of his teachers while he was at university.”

Connor froze up next to Hank as he stared at the young woman. His eyes went over her features as if he was matching them to a person he had met. “Your mother was Amanda Stern?”

The woman stopped in surprise as well. “Yes. How did you know that?”

Connor seemed stuck, so Hank answered for him. “We’re looking into other androids Kamski gave out. When we did a background on Kamski, your mother’s name came up. Seems they were close?”

She looked uncertain, but she nodded and continued to lead them further in. Hank put a hand on Connor’s shoulder and that got the android moving again.

“I never met him myself, but my uncle told me that he was very fond of her. Kamski was the one who encouraged him to invest in Cyberlife.”

She led them into a large room where an older man was playing with a little girl. “Uncle Richard, the police are here to ask after Charles.”

Richard Allen looked surprised. “Charles? That was years ago,” he said with a wary glance at Connor’s LED.

“We’re just investigating androids related to Elijah Kamski,” said Hank as he and Connor were gestured to sit on the couch opposite of Mr. Allen.

“Well, there’s not much to say about Charles I’m afraid. He was here for less than a year before he got hit by a car and some idiot broke into my garage and took him. They didn’t even try to steal anything else and the Shelby was ten feet away. Junkies I think. They must have thought they could make red ice or something.”

“How did Charles get hit by a car?” asked Connor.

Richard Allen frowned as he remembered. “Oh, that android was always getting into accidents. If he hadn’t been a gift, I would have returned him after the first six months. He fell down the stairs once and had to get an arm replaced. Then another time, he managed to get a knife stuck in his hand while making dinner. The day he got hit by the car, he claimed he hadn’t even seen it, even though it was a busy road full of cars. You were there for that Anne, remember? She was moving out to college that day and we had to postpone everything to get the android sorted out. It was such a mess.”

Anne nodded as she reached for the little girl in Mr. Allen’s arms. “I remember.”

Hank looked at Anne as she held the little girl in her arms. Her posture was somewhat defensive. “Was he close to you?”

Anne didn’t look up from the child as she answered. “Oh, well I wouldn’t call it close. I mean, it was an android. It was just the three of us here then, so we did speak quite a lot to it. If he’d been a person, I suppose we might have been considered close.”

Connor’s LED cycled yellow for a moment. “If he was a deviant it would have been possible for him to consider you close.”

Anne shrugged, and Mr. Allen answered instead. “Yeah, but that whole deviant thing is new. Charles always followed orders. I think we would have noticed if he’d been acting strange.”

Hank wondered what part of constantly getting damaged Mr. Allen didn’t find strange but decided to move on. These people obviously hadn’t cared enough to notice anything. “What about after the accident? Did you call Kamski about the repairs?”

Mr. Allen shook his head. “Oh no, Elijah was always too private for me to call him up like that. Charles rattled off a list of places where he could be repaired, and I called one. A local shop if I remember, but it’s been so long.”

“He was active?” asked Connor in surprise.

“Yeah, he was stuttering and the like, but he didn’t shut off. I mean, he looked like a damn crime scene, so we put him in the garage until we had time to deal with him, but he was online. He didn’t have legs, so I know he couldn’t have wandered off.”

Hank’s jaw tightened at the thought. “The report said you left him in the garage for two days.”

“Yeah, until I came back from dropping off Anne,” said Mr. Allen obviously. “That’s when I noticed the garage had been forced open.”

Hank opened his mouth to say something that would have no doubt gotten them kicked out of Mr. Allen’s home when Connor reached across and put a hand on his arm. The gesture was enough for Hank to pause and stare back at him.

Connor’s LED cycled yellow continuously. “Could we see the garage?” he asked in a completely level voice.

“Sure. Anne, can you take them please? Leave Cindy here with me,” said Mr. Allen with a smile at his niece. She nodded but her eyes were on the hand Connor had on Hank.

She led them out of the house through a side door, as Hank tried to reign in his anger. Two days. For two fucking days Charles had been left in pieces on a garage floor waiting to die. Fucking hell.

“Uncle Richard had the lock replaced but we haven’t changed anything else. He was in that corner,” she said as she opened the door and pointed out a corner of the garage.

Connor went forward to look around, but Hank stayed behind and stared at Anne. She looked back at him a little nervously.

“When Charles got hurt the other times, did it also have to do with you?”

Anne looked away to where Connor was inspecting the floor. “Well, I wasn’t sure. I mean, I remember when he fell down the stairs, it was the day after I got accepted to college. Then, when I was watching him make dinner one day I started talking about the apartment I wanted to rent, and I turned around and he’d stuck a knife through his hand. I figured he was malfunctioning like my uncle said.”

Connor looked back at her. “Did he ever express that he cared about you?”

Anne frowned at the question. “He never said anything, but I suppose if he’d been human it might have seemed that way.”

Connor straightened up as he finished his examination. “Did you care about him?”

At the question, Anne’s entire demeanor seemed to change. “Of course not. He was a machine. It would have been crazy,” she said coldly.

Connor’s LED spun red.

“Fuck this,” said Hank turning to Connor. “You find any trace?”

“No Lieutenant,” said Connor still staring at Anne.

“Then we’re done here,” said Hank grabbing Connor’s arm and dragging him out of the garage. “We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”

Anne gave a short nod, so Hank started walking to the front of the house from the outside while still dragging Connor. Hank finally let him go as they approached the car, so he could climb into the passenger’s side. Hank sat for a moment just holding the steering wheel in anger, before finally turning on the ignition and driving them away from that fucking house.

“We learned he was a deviant,” said Connor after a minute or two on the road.

“We learned that people can be fucking monsters,” said Hank taking a deep breath to calm his anger. It wasn’t really working.

“It was three years before deviants were even reported on,” said Connor with a sigh. “No one believed we could be anything else but machines.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit Connor. They lived with it for a goddamn year. You’re telling me they couldn’t fucking tell he was alive? Richard Allen being an idiot I can buy, but that fucking girl knew. She fucking knew, and she left him to die in a fucking shed because what? She didn’t want anyone to think bad of her? Fuck that.”

Connor’s LED spun yellow again and again. “You didn’t believe the deviants at first too.”

Hank’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “And I was wrong. I’d known you less than a fucking week before I knew there was someone inside of you. Hell, I probably knew before you did yourself.”

Connor’s LED continued to spin yellow. Hank wanted to reach across to him and shake him. He didn’t, but it was a close thing.

Instead he drove them to Chicken Feed to pick up lunch. By the time they got there, Connor’s LED was blue, and he was giving the food truck an unimpressed glance.

“Don’t start,” said Hank before exiting the car and going up to order.

Connor followed him out. “They still haven’t renewed their health license.”

“It’s been a bad month for everyone,” said Hank before ordering the greasiest thing on the menu.

Gary gave Connor a dirty look. “That thing didn’t go crazy with the other ones?”

“He was always crazy,” said Hank with a grin.

Gary shrugged and turned around to start preparing Hank’s food. “You get stuck with it permanently or what?”

“Guess I got used to having him around,” said Hank with a glance at Connor. The android’s expression was amused.

Gary finished the food and Hank walked over to one of the tables to eat. “All right. Ignoring those fucked up people. Based on what we learned we know Charles was a deviant three years before reports started coming out about deviants. So far as we know right now, he’s the oldest deviant we have, and he came from Kamski.”

“Charles registration was 2033 which means that it was five years after Kamski left Cyberlife. He must have taken those models with him when he left. Perhaps there was something special about them,” said Connor tapping his fingers on the table. Hank reached into his pocket and offered him a quarter. The android looked surprised before taking it.

“We’ll check that out when we get the Cyberlife files. For now, we need to check out the other RK200. If she was a deviant too, then RK200 models are 3 for 3.”

Connor spun the quarter in his fingers. “It’s circumstantial until we find an active one.”

“We have an active one. We need to schedule in Markus and his previous owner for interviews.”

“Carl Mansfield. Markus would prefer it if we did not disturb him. His health is very fragile,” said Connor with a frown.

“He can do it then. We interview Markus first and then whatever questions we have, we can give to Markus,” said Hank finishing his burger. He was still jittery, the anger from earlier hadn’t helped at all. “I got one more stop and then we can go try to find the other owner.”

The look on Connor’s face when they stopped in front of a liquor store five minutes later was extremely conflicted. He kept glancing at Hank like he had something to say, before looking away and pretending he didn’t care. Hank wanted to say something too, but he wasn’t sure what. He opted for putting a hand on Connor’s shoulder before exiting the car to go into the store. Connor thankfully didn’t follow him in.

Hank came out a few minutes later 100 dollars lighter and with a bag. He was in the process of opening the car door when his phone started buzzing.

“Lieutenant Anderson,” said Hank as he picked up and slid into his seat. Connor was nice enough to help him with the bag.

“Oh, hello. My name is Edward Douglas. I received a call from you about an android I used to own,” said the person on the other side of the line.

Hank closed the door behind him. “Mr. Douglas, yeah. I’m calling about Janie. Do you have time to meet us today?”

“Oh, I’m sorry but I evacuated the city and I’m still not back yet.”

Hank sighed and put the phone on speaker. “Well, is it all right with you if we ask you some questions over the phone?”

“I suppose?” asked Mr. Douglas uncertainly. “I provided a full statement to the officer that went to the house. I don’t understand why it’s being brought up now.”

Something about his tone struck Hank as defensive. “They’re just general questions. We’re trying to find out if Janie came from Cyberlife with an error.”

“Oh,” said Mr. Douglas sounding relieved. “That's what I told the officer. She was delivered that afternoon and we didn’t go out anywhere. I put her to bed that night and when I woke up in the morning, she was gone. The people at the store kept asking if I’d modified her in some way and I told them I didn’t, but they still refused to give me a refund.”

“She didn’t have contact with any other androids?” asked Connor.

“No, I didn’t own any other ones. I had been saving up for the YK500.”

“Can you walk us through your day? We want to make sure there was no way she came into contact with anyone else.”

“I guess,” said Mr. Douglas sounding anxious again. “She came out of the box at around oh, I don’t know maybe 4? We sat down to read her manual pretty much all afternoon. She asked if she could play outside, but I didn’t want her to get dirty, so I kept her with me while I made dinner. We went to bed early. I mean, it was a very uneventful day.”

Hank’s eyes narrowed as he listened. He really wished he was face to face with Douglas so he could see his expressions. “You live by yourself Mr. Douglas?”

The line went quiet for a moment. “I do. Look, the only reason I’m making time for this is because I want my property back.”

“Android ownership was outlawed by executive order,” said Connor looking at Hank’s expression. It wasn’t a good one.

“Janie would come to me if she could,” said Douglas in a petulant tone that made Hank’s skin crawl. “I’m her father.”

Hank wanted to scream at the phone but tried to calm himself. “You’re sure no one could have contacted her after you went to bed?” asked Hank.

“Yes. I hadn’t gotten her a bed yet, so we were sharing the room,” said Douglas.

Hank could feel Connor staring at him as he reached for the phone. “We’ll be in touch if we need more information,” said Hank between clenched teeth as he hit the disconnect button.

“Lieutenant, wha-”

“Look up priors for Edward Douglas,” said Hank as he reached for the bag on the floor.

Connor’s LED cycled yellow for a moment before his eyes went wide. It was all the confirmation Hank needed.

Hank opened the bottle and took a large drink. He really hated his species.

They sat there in silence for who knows how long until Hank couldn’t feel the burn from the whiskey. He raised the bottle to take another drink, but Connor reached out and gripped his arm tightly.

“We still need to meet with Nicole Jameson at 6.”

Hank wanted to pull his arm out of his grip and down the bottle to sweet oblivion. Instead, he twisted the top back on and put the bottle in the bag.

“I meant what I said at the Cyberlife tower,” he said as he put the bottle under the seat. “Humanity’s had the run of the place for a while and all we’ve done is fuck shit up. Don’t be like us.”

“That’s a lot of responsibility Hank,” said Connor as he crossed his arms. He looked cold.

Hank couldn’t help reaching out to put a hand on Connor’s neck. “I really do think you can do it.”

Connor’s smile was small, but it was there.

 

* * *

 

 

Nicole Jameson turned out to be a harried mother of three. Hank and Conner had been waiting outside her house when she arrived a little after 6 and she gave them a smile as she got her kids out of the car. “Sorry for the wait! My youngest goes to a different school and the traffic, my god. Half the city is gone, and I still can’t get anywhere.”

“Not a problem,” said Hank as the kids approached them. The eldest, who looked about 13, stared up at Connor with shock.

“You’re the guy from tv!” she said as she grabbed her brother’s arm. “Look, Mikey. Isn’t that the guy that led all those androids out? Robo cop or whatever you were calling him.”

Her brother, a 10-year-old with black spiky hair, stared at Connor with awe.

“Cathy, move I need to open the door,” said her mother as she reached over with her keys. The kids moved back and once she got the door open, Mrs. Jameson led her brood and the two investigators into the house.

“Sorry about the mess,” she said picking up discarded clothing off the couch. “Mikey, I told you to take those toys upstairs last night.”

Mikey, who still hadn’t taken his eyes off Connor, quickly gathered the offending toys and ran up the stairs so he could come back down and stare some more. The smallest, a little boy that looked around 8, sat next to his sister excitedly waiting to see what was going on.

“All of you behave or I’m sending you upstairs,” said Mrs. Jameson before motioning for Connor and Hank to take a seat. “Your message said this was about Mandy.”

“Yeah,” said Hank with a grin at how the kids were looking at Connor. “Her model was never sold commercially. We wanted to know how you got her.”

“Oh, my husband worked at Cyberlife for a while. I guess it might not come up in their records, since he was a contractor with them. He was a designer.”

“What sort of projects did he work on?” asked Connor. If he was intimidated by all the kid’s eyes on him, he didn’t show it.

“All kinds I guess. He worked under Jason Graff mostly. This was a few years ago of course. I’m sure the department is huge now. Michael helped design android bodies,” said Mrs. Jameson looking Connor over. “He would have loved you. The freckles, the little moles and imperfections. It was just the sort of thing Michael would have pushed for. Most people when they imagine androids, they imagine these perfect beautiful beings. My husband used to say that there was perfection in the imperfection. I’m surprised you even made it to production. Back in the day they would have probably taken your design to some executive that would have removed all your freckles and given you some impossibly pretty colored eyes.”

Hank turned to give Connor a once over and got a quick frown in return. “I’m actually a prototype. It’s entirely possible my design would have been changed before I went into production.”

“Oh, you’re like Mandy then. Michael mentioned she looked like she did because she was a prototype too. She had sun spots all across her arms. If it wasn’t for her LED, no one could have told she was an android.”

“Was Mandy a gift from Elijah Kamski?”

Mrs. Jameson laughed. “Does Elijah Kamski give gifts? He never did to us. No, Michael had been trying to buy an android to help around the house. I had two of these little monsters already and I was pregnant with the third, so he asked Jason for a favor. We got her at a reduced price since her model never even made it to production. It was so quick too. Michael asked Jason on a Monday I think, and by Thursday we had her. Only reason we didn’t get her the same day was because she had to be wiped before she came to us.”

“Why was her memory wiped?” asked Hank in confusion.

“You know, I’m not sure. Michael said that all the prototypes were run through a series of like, trials or something. It was always very hush hush. Kamski oversaw them and would go ballistic when details would get out. I remember Michael saying that someone at Cyberlife had sent out a press release about Mandy’s model with a bunch of incomplete information and Kamski had them fired on the spot. Crazy man. And rude too. I met him a little before he left Cyberlife and he ignored me like I was air. He didn’t like Michael either.”

Hank found himself grinning. He liked Nicole Jameson. “Any idea what the project was?”

“No, sadly not. Mandy asked Michael the same question once and he couldn’t remember. He was never involved in any of Kamski’s big projects so all he heard were the rumors around the watercooler. I mean, there were some juicy rumors about Kamski, he was super weird after all, but nothing about the projects.”

“What about Mandy? Any idea why she left?”

Mrs. Jameson sighed. “No, she wouldn’t have left. We were her family. I could tell right away that she was special. I’d seen the other Cyberlife models at the time and they were good but nothing like Mandy. It was like having another child in the house, but one that could actually help you. At first, she was ready to learn everything you taught her but after a few months I could see like, this emergence. I know some genius like Kamski would probably say that it was programming and artificial but to someone like me it was like watching life. When I started seeing all those reports about deviants, it was like a light going off in my head. That’s what Mandy was, a deviant.”

“The report said you thought she may have been attacked?” asked Connor.

“There were these kids in the neighborhood back then that didn’t like androids. This was before all those crazy people started protesting and attacking androids, but they were just as bad. After my husband died I was at home more often, so Mandy had time to go out and look around the city. Sometimes she’d take Cathy with her but most of the time she went out alone. I told her to be careful, but I didn’t want to stop her either. Then one day she didn’t come home, and I just thought, it must be those kids. I called the cops, but they acted like someone had stolen a lawn ornament. Damn idiots.” Mrs. Jameson smiled embarrassingly. “Uh, no offence.”

“Most deviants wake up after some traumatic event. Any idea what it was for Mandy?”

Mrs. Jameson laughed again and put her arm around her youngest son. “I wouldn’t call it traumatic, but I suppose it might have been for her. It was the first time she ever ignored our commands. I was giving birth to this little monster and I wanted her with me. The doctor said she didn’t want an android in the room, so Michael had to tell her to go outside and wait. She went out and came back three seconds later in a panic saying she had to be there for me. The doctor put up a fight, but we yelled at him until he gave in. She didn’t act any different, but she’d break little orders after that. You know, sneak the kids a snack while they were in time out or let a 4-year-old pick out his clothes in the morning.”

Hank and Connor shared a look. Yeah, Mandy wouldn’t have run away. Which meant the chances of finding her among those deactivated at Jericho weren’t good.

“Anything else you could tell us about Mandy? She was obviously a deviant but we’re trying to find out why she may have become that way.”

Mrs. Jameson patted her son’s arm as she thought. “Oh, I know,” she said as she stood up and went over to her kitchen. She started rummaging in a drawer trying to find something.

Mikey took the opportunity to whisper at Connor. “Do you have a gun?”

Connor smiled awkwardly. “No, sorry.”

“I guess you don’t even need a gun. The news said that you were like a ninja,” said Mikey in awe.

Connor didn’t seem to know what to say so Hank helped him out. “He’s better than a ninja. Inhuman reflexes. He could take out a room of guys.”

“That’s so cool!” said Mikey as his mother came back from the kitchen.

“I remembered I had this. We were doing a card for Michael and I asked her to sign her name and instead she goes and writes that on it. She used to write it everywhere without even thinking about it.”

Hank and Connor looked at the card. In perfect Cyberlife sans: rA9.

“Did she ever tell you what it meant?” asked Connor eagerly.

“She wasn’t sure. She thought it was the name of the project she was a part of or another android involved? All she said was that it was the only thing she could remember from before her memory wipe.”

“You’ve been a real big help Mrs. Jameson,” said Hank taking out his card. “If you remember anything else you think might be relevant, please don’t hesitate to call us.”

“And if you hear anything about Mandy, please call me. I’m still holding out hope they’re going to find her someday,” said Mrs. Jameson.

“Uh, can I have a picture?!” blurted out Michael as Connor stood up. The android froze in surprise.

“Sure you can,” said Hank with a grin at Connor’s expression.

Mrs. Jameson handed Hank her phone and he took a picture of Connor with the whole gang. Hank swore he’d never seen Connor smile more awkwardly.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Connor found there was a strange sense of familiarity being back in his suit. The logos and identifiers had changed but the weight of it felt good on his shoulders. Even his tie made him feel more comfortable, though it did provide opportunity for one of his most visible physical tics. Connor adjusted his tie for the third time and heard Markus laugh next to him.

“Oooh, Is the big deviant hunter nervous?” asked North with a grin. Connor found that he liked it when North smiled. He just wished it wasn’t so often at his expense.

“I am designed for public appearances as part of my investigational duties.”

“So am I,” said Josh frowning at Connor. “It doesn’t change the fact that these press conferences are always so nerve racking.”

“You’re just going to be a representative of our people to the public Connor. No pressure,” said Markus with a smile and a shrug.

“Are you attempting to tease me?” asked Connor at their leader with a raised eyebrow. He scanned Markus and found his stress level at 22%. “You’re the one making the speech. I would have thought that if anyone had a reason to be nervous, it would be you.”

North rolled her eyes at him, but Markus just smiled wider. “Never mind. How is your investigation going?”

“Yeah, how’s that human of yours working out?” asked North curiously. She’d been a very vocal opponent of involving Hank in the first place.

“The investigation is progressing as expected. Until Cyberlife provides us with their records, we will be unable to have a full picture of what we are looking at. In the meantime, the more people we talk to, the more prepared we’ll be for when the information is available.”

“Carl has agreed to meet with you this afternoon.” Markus didn’t look pleased about it.

“Which means I’ll require further assistance with managing our security team,” said Connor inclining his head to North.

“I can handle it.” North had struggled in the beginning with her role in Jericho after the demonstration. Simon had naturally gravitated towards android repair and care, Josh had quickly found himself helping Markus with the details of political maneuvering and community outreach, and Connor had instantly fallen into the role of establishing security. North had helped all of them at one point or another, as if lost, before realizing that was her role. While Markus was the shining beacon and inspiration for their movement, North was the one who cut down information to the basics. She put them all in line to get things done. A perfect second in command.

Their cars arrived at city hall and after a confirmation from the security team they exited. Markus had had various other press conferences in the past month, but this would be their first with law enforcement officials. Senator McKinley, the senator pushing for the android bill and now the head of the committee, was there and between him and Josh introductions were done. FBI and NSA representatives were introduced to him in a blur of suits and fake smiles. Connor shook hands and catalogued them into his memory. They’d no doubt be running into them again at some point. They were ushered into a large room to wait for the reporters and Connor felt himself freeze as he entered.

Hank was leaning against the far wall, but he didn’t look like Hank. He was dressed in an ironed blue suit and a crooked black tie. Someone had trimmed his beard, cut his hair short and slicked it back with something. If it weren’t for the grumpy look on his face, he’d look like just another model number version of Hank.

Hank noticed him staring and his frown became more pronounced. “Quit your gawking. They forced me to dress like this.”

“You look presentable for fucking once,” said Captain Fowler next to him. Connor hadn’t even noticed him.

Markus entered the room to say hello to Hank and introduce himself. Connor followed him in to do the same, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from glancing at the Lieutenant.

“Captain Fowler, it’s good to see you again,” said Connor trying to focus on the man in front of him. Captain Fowler had ignored him at first, but Connor had gotten the impression that they’d reached an understanding before he’d left.

The Captain nodded at him in a friendly way that seemed to support Connor’s assumptions. “Good to see you in one piece.”

“Your tie is crooked,” said North, by way of greeting to Hank.

The Lieutenant frowned at her, as his hands went up to his tie. “Yeah well, never been really good with this shit.”

Before he could really think through the action, Connor stepped up into Hank’s personal space and began to fix his tie for him. Captain Fowler and Markus were introducing themselves to one another, so they didn’t give him any mind but North raised a single disbelieving eyebrow at him and Connor could see Josh was trying not to laugh. It made Connor want to move away when he noticed them, but he quickly realized that would look stranger.

Hank looked surprised, but he put his hands down and let Connor fiddle with him. “I’m lucky I got this suit bigger than I had to a few years ago, otherwise I’d have had to buy one. As long as no one expects me to button this up, I’ll be good,” muttered Hank quietly in irritation. At this distance Hank’s voice was deeper and Connor could almost feel his breath against his ear. The Lieutenant smelled like just a hint of cologne or aftershave. It felt strangely intimate to smell it on him, so Connor hurried and quickly fixed the tie. A slightly unnecessary smoothing down of Hank’s lapel is all he indulged in before stepping back.

Once the reporters were ready for them, they were led into the room where the press conference would be held. Senator McKinley started off by expressing his gratefulness at Markus for the current state of recovery in Detroit and his hopes for the work of the committee. Although android ownership had been outlawed and androids had been offered protection under the executive orders of the president, he emphasized that until the amendment naming androids citizens could be put into place then there would always be uncertainty about their future. He also thanked Cyberlife for their continued cooperation with the government and reiterated promises of helping the company restructure itself in the future.

Markus spoke after him, leading to a flurry of camera shutters. The android leader’s speeches were always similar in structure. His people and their future were always his main concerns and though he did talk a bit about the politics involved in their precarious position, he focused instead on addressing humanity as a whole.

“Our people have found some measure of safety with our current circumstance but until we are legally recognized as equal we will be unable to live our lives fully without fear. This investigation is not being undertaken in a spirit of indignation but rather for understanding. We must all face the actions that led to our uprising head on, so that we can build our future with humanity on a better foundation.”

Before opening the press conference to questions, Marcus named both Connor and Hank as his representatives on the investigative team and thanked the DPD for helping with the investigation. Connor tried to keep his face neutral as the cameras focused on him and a quick scan told him that Hank was doing the same. He felt like adjusting his tie again but he suppressed the urge. It was almost over after all.

The reporters focused their questions on the possible amendment and on other efforts by the androids to gain equal rights. Quite a lot of lawsuits were being considered by both the people of Detroit and the androids, that could potentially also expand their legally recognized rights, so this was also a large topic for questions. It was only near the end of the conference when a question regarding him and Hank came up.

“Is there a reason why you’ve decided to choose a representative with the DPD instead of the FBI?” asked a female reporter near the back of the room.

“Since our movement is localized in Detroit, we believe it is essential to build connections with local law enforcement. This is where our people are going to live. We should know the officers who are going to enforce the amendment we want to create,” said Markus before looking around the room for the next reporter to pick. Before he could do so, the same reporter spoke up again out of turn.

“We know that Lieutenant Anderson was the previous partner of the android investigator Connor and that he was, at least peripherally, involved with the events at the Cyberlife tower so he may have been chosen for that reason, but Lieutenant Anderson’s record shows him as a vocal anti-android voice at the DPD. His son, Cole Anderson, died under the care of an android surgeon three years ago. Are you certain that’s the kind of person that should be involved in an investigation about android abuse?”

More cameras focused on himself and Hank, as if expecting some sort of reaction.

Connor’s face remained neutral only by forcibly stopping all processes on his face. He wanted to turn and scan Hank, but he focused on the reporter instead. He was so busy trying to control his outward processes that he didn’t even realize that he’d made a preconstruction of how he could reach her until the program was ready to execute.

“He’s exactly the right kind of person we need,” said Markus in a tone that made Connor turn to him. Markus didn’t sound angry at the question, but his tone brooked no argument. It was as if he was laying down a law with every word. “The man in Lieutenant Anderson’s record was the same person as everyone who helped in the destruction of androids at the camps, everyone who locked their doors to the horrors happening outside during the evacuation of this city and everyone who ever told us we were not alive. We were just machines to them. It speaks to Lieutenant Anderson’s character that he was able to see what we really are despite his past prejudice. If this amendment is ever to succeed, we need that kind of insight. We need to be able to hold hands with those that would be our enemies and show them the truth of us.”

This. This is why Connor followed Markus. How Markus could take such an ugly situation and change it with simply the power of his belief was something that Connor would never understand but he knew he’d follow their leader until the end for a glimpse of it. Connor dismissed the preconstruction and when the cameras focused away from them at the beginning of another question, he finally turned to Hank. The Lieutenant looked a little irritated, but Connor somehow knew it was not what the detective was feeling. He reached out his hand and squeezed Hank’s. The Lieutenant’s expression didn’t change but he squeezed back before letting go.

Connor rather thought that spoke for itself.

 

* * *

 

Carl Manfred’s house was filled with all sorts of possessions and souvenirs that showed a life well lived. Connor didn’t own many possessions, but he knew people collected things that had meaning to them. Lots of things had a meaning in Carl Manfred’s life.

“I’d rather not wake him up until after our conversation. He’s doing better but he’s still sleeping more than he was before,” said Markus, leading them to a couch in the middle of the drawing room. “Once we’re done here, I’ll take you upstairs.”

North had tagged along, ostensibly to manage Markus’ security, but Connor rather suspected she was just being nosy. “Nice giraffe,” she said sarcastically as she sat on the arm of the couch behind Connor and Hank.

Markus pulled on the end of her braid as he passed her. “Would you like a drink Hank? Carl has excellent scotch.”

“Yes, thank you,” said Hank as Connor frowned at Markus. The press conference had already taken more than half their day and Connor and Hank still needed to go over the data the FBI handed over to them. The last thing he wanted was for Hank to be distracted.

If Markus saw the look on his face, he ignored it, and proceeded to hand over the drink to Hank before taking a seat. “All right. So, what questions do you have for me?”

“Elijah Kamski gave you as a present to Mr. Manfred. What was the reason for the gift?”

“Carl and Kamski got to know each other when Kamski bought some of his pieces. He was something of a fan and when Carl stopped painting after his accident, he gave me to him. I remember him saying we would be good for each other.”

“Do you remember anything before coming here?”

Markus frowned at him. “No. I was initialized after I was delivered to the house.”

“The wife of an ex-cyberlife employee told us some androids of your model might have been involved in a project of Kamski’s. Her husband had told her the android had its memory cleared before she arrived at their home. All the android remembered from the project were the symbols for rA9.”

Connor heard North move behind him but focused on Markus. “Did you ever remember anything about rA9?”

“I’m sorry to disappoint but no. The first time I ever heard about rA9 was when I saw it on the walls of Jericho,” said Markus as he looked up at North.

“What about Jericho? How’d you hear about it?” asked Hank.

“After the police shot me, I was taken to a junkyard. An android there gave me the data package on Jericho.”

Connor frowned. It would have been nice if someone had given him the information that easily.  “What about your deviancy? You’ve told me that the first order you disobeyed was to not defend yourself, but what about before that?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” said Markus leaning back in his seat. “I didn’t feel much of a difference before my deviancy and after, except that I didn’t have to follow orders. Before that, it was just like I was living my life normally.”

“You never wanted to do things differently from what you were told?”

“Carl hardly ever gave me orders. We’d talk about things and I knew what I had to do. It didn’t feel any different from how I feel right now. When I became a deviant, it wasn’t like waking up, it was more like taking back my free will from that order.”

“You were happy here,” said Hank taking a drink.

“Yes. Carl was always trying to teach me things or expose me to the world. He wanted me to decide who I should be.”

A strange idea for an android. “He said those specific words?”

“Yes, he did. As he got older, he told me he couldn’t protect me forever. I would have to protect myself and make my own choices.”

“That’s crazy,” said North in confusion. “Did he think you were a deviant already?”

“He might have realized that something was different about him, like another owner we met,” said Connor glancing up at her.

Hank shrugged. “Or Kamski said something to him. It’s something we should ask him.”

Connor thought back to the other RK200 cases they had investigated. Mandy had been like Marcus, in that her family accepted her deviancy and encouraged it. Charles, on the other hand, had his expressions of life denied and every time he’d expressed his frustration the humans around him just made things worse by treating him like a malfunctioning machine.

It reminded Connor of Amanda somehow.

“Were you ever confused or…afraid of showing signs of deviancy?” asked Connor uncertainly.

Markus paused to think. “I guess I must have been. I remember Carl would get so frustrated with me when I first got here because I would fall back on my program instead of thinking for myself. I guess he could see there was more to me, but I didn’t want to see it.”

Hank turned to Connor. “It like that for you too?”

“Something like that I suppose,” said Connor dismissing the question.

“Your LED is red,” said North helpfully.

Connor took manual control of the LED and glared at her.

“You’re an RK model too,” said Hank. Connor could feel him staring at his LED. “If there’s something special about the models, it might apply to you too.”

Connor looked away from all of them and thought. “It was different for me because every time I spoke to Amanda, I was reminded that I was only a machine expected to complete a task.”

“Did you have deviancy from the beginning like Markus?”

“I had software instability.”

Markus looked very confused. “Because of your deviancy? I never had that.”

Connor looked up at him with surprise. “Never?”

“No. I mean, my system didn’t flag any errors. North?”

North shook her head.

Connor looked between them in confusion. “Are you sure? It didn't always appear but when I would do things that interfered with my orders or went beyond them, I always had it.”

“What sort of situations? Explain,” said North sliding closer on the back of the couch.

He wasn’t sure where to start. There had been a lot of situations where he’d seen the notification. “The first time was immediately after I became active. Time was of the essence but when I entered the house of a hostage situation, I saw a fish on the ground from the family’s aquarium. It seemed cruel to leave it there, so I put it back.”

“This is right after you woke up?” asked Hank in surprise. “Because when I met you, you seemed a fucking plastic prick.”

North glared down at Hank for the derogatory insult.

Connor smiled. “I think that’s just my personality Lieutenant.”

Markus looked concerned. “How often were you having those instabilities?”

“They got worse over time,” said Connor turning to Hank. “After you held a gun to my head and asked me if I was scared to die, it got a lot worse.”

“What is wrong with you?” asked North turning to Hank and smacking his shoulder. By the way Hank reacted, it hadn’t been a light hit.

“Fucking hell,” said Hank rubbing his shoulder. “He kept saying he was going to hunt all of you down. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t imagining that someone was home in there.”

Connor wasn’t sure he liked how casual North was being with Hank. “By the time I went to Jericho, I knew I had been compromised. I just didn’t want to accept it.”

“The thing with the fish,” said Hank as if mulling over a thought. “Was that before you’d had contact with another android?”

Connor thought back to his initialization with Cyberlife security. “It was but I was also given my instructions from Amanda in the virtual construct.”

“Why would that matter?” asked North in confusion.

“We’ve been trying to figure out if you guys come out deviant out of the box or if it’s like a virus that’s picked up.”

“If Amanda was not my source of infection, then I was deviant from initiation but if she was, then it means that Cyberlife is able to control deviancy.”

“And if they can control it, then they might be able to get rid of it,” said Markus with a frown. “When do you get the information from Cyberlife?”

“Tomorrow in the afternoon. The FBI has provided us with their records for now. Special Agent Perkins, the one who led the attack on Jericho, had pulled all android reports around the country and general business data on Cyberlife. It includes employee and investor information.”

“Maybe we can find some pissed off ex-employee that’ll be willing to spill his guts,” said Hank finishing his drink. “You got any more questions for Markus?”

Connor shook his head. The interview had switched to focus to him anyway. He would need to add his own experiences to the report if they were so different from what other deviants had experienced.

Markus led them upstairs to a corner room. The android in the room introduced himself as Jacob and asked that they not take long before leaving the room. An older man was in a hospital bed in the middle of the room and shut off medical equipment was unused in the corner.

Markus went to sit on the side of the bed before shaking the shoulder of the man gently. “Carl, hey. I brought those guests I told you about.”

The man on the bed startled awake but he smiled widely when he saw Markus. “Hey, yeah. Guess I fell asleep while waiting up.”

Markus took his hands and stroked them as he introduced them. “Carl, these are the investigators we have looking into the deviants. Lieutenant Anderson and Connor. You remember I told you about Connor?”

Carl smiled warmly at Connor. “Course I do. It’s nice to meet you. Forgive my state of undress. It gets harder to be presentable with age.”

“Tell me about it,” said Hank with a grin.

“It’s an honor to meet you sir,” said Connor falling back on formality.

Markus held out his hand to North. She looked a little uncertain, but she stepped up to take it. “And this is North.”

Carl looked up at North with genuine delight. “I’ve been trying to get Markus to bring you here since he told me about you. It’s great to meet you North.”

“It’s great to meet you too,” said North while sneaking a nervous look at Markus.

Markus just smiled at her. “We can talk later. Connor and the Lieutenant have some questions for you.”

“Fire away,” said Carl with a grin. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“We know that Elijah Kamski gave Markus to you. We were wondering if he told you anything about his past when he did?”

“I remember him saying Markus was special. That the idiots at Cyberlife had never appreciated it but that he hoped I would.”

“He tell you how he was special?” asked Hank with a glance at Connor. Kamski had obviously known something about the RK200.

“No, not really. Elijah was always talking that way about other people. I like the man, but he always has to be the smartest person in the room. If you were to believe him, everyone else who worked for Cyberlife was a fool.”

“Did he speak to you about any projects at Cyberlife or say anything about Markus’ model?”

Carl paused as he thought back. “Not that I can remember. Elijah was never much for small talk. He called me up randomly and said that he was having an android delivered to my house. I asked him what the hell for and he said we could help each other. The android would be able to help with my care and I could teach him how the world really worked.”

“Teach me how the world really worked?” asked Markus in confusion.

Carl shrugged. “I don’t know. Elijah was grinning when he said it. I was in a bad place when you first got here so I figure he expected me to take out my frustration on you. I didn’t treat you so well those early months, did I?” asked Carl with regret in his voice. “I couldn’t be cruel to you though. I could see that you were special right away. I wanted to keep you safe in this house until you were ready to be on your own. I was so worried the world was going to try to destroy you.”

“We’re not going to allow that to happen,” said North putting a hand on Carl’s arm. The old man reached over to pat her hand.

“I knew I was going to like you,” said Carl with a smile.

“Kamski ever say anything else about Markus?”

“About a year after he sent Markus, he called because he’d heard that I was painting again. He said he was curious how Markus was doing but when I told him how well things were going, he sounded disinterested. He gave me the address to send the painting and hung up. It was the last time we spoke. Elijah is something of a recluse.”

Connor thought that over. Had Kamski expected Carl to influence Markus in some specific way? It seemed he’d been disappointed in how their relationship had gone.

“Is there anything else?” asked Marcus.

Hank turned to look at him, so Connor shook his head. “Nothing that I can think of. Thank you for giving us your time.”

“Come by any time if you have further questions,” said Carl as Markus frowned at him. It was obvious he disagreed with the statement.

“I’ll have Simon send you the new list from the junkyards as soon as we have access,” said Markus from the bedside.

Connor nodded at him as he and Hank left the room. North moved to Carl’s other side as he closed the door behind them. It seemed like they still had a few things to discuss.

 

* * *

 

It was after nightfall and raining when they left Carl’s house, but they still needed to go over the data the FBI gave them. Hank was reluctant to drive out to New Jericho, so Connor suggested that they work from his house. The Lieutenant was more than happy to agree after picking up a meal.

Connor drove as Hank ate greasy tacos they'd picked up at a drive thru. 1630 kcals, 89g of fat and 2960g of sodium. Hank was unimpressed by those numbers.

“So, do you guys not talk about going deviant or what?”

Connor could see the yellow of his LED reflecting off the car window as he thought. He wondered idly if he should always leave it under manual control. “Not everyone was treated as well as Markus. For many of them remembering those experiences is unpleasant.”

“Many of  _them_? Sounds to me like dealing with Amanda wasn’t real fun.”

It took Connor a moment to find the right words to answer. “Amanda was never cruel or outright malicious. She represented only the constant reminder of what was expected of me and what would happen if I failed. I wanted to please her but every decision I made seemed to only make things worse.”

“She sounds like the world’s worst mom,” said Hank biting into his tacos.

“She really didn’t like you,” answered Connor with a grin. “But you are a rather bad influence.”

 “Bullshit. ’m great,” said Hank around a mouthful of taco.

“You really are.”

They arrived at the house and Connor opened the door while Hank shuffled in noisily behind him. Sumo picked up his head as they entered the house, but he didn’t bother standing up.

“You know Lieutenant, I don’t think he’s much of a guard dog.”

Hank glanced over to Sumo as he threw down the keys Connor handed to him. “He’s too old and lazy to do much. Like his owner.”

Hank kicked off his dress shoes and started to reach for his tie but before he could take it off, Connor brushed his hands away. “There’s a proper way to take it off Lieutenant.”

“I’m never going to wear this shit again if I can help it Connor,” said Hank with irritation but much like before, he put his hands down and let Connor fiddle with him.

Connor stepped into Hank’s personal space and reached for his tie. “First you pop the collar and you loosen the tie,” said Connor giving Hank’s tie a few gentle tugs. He could feel the warmth of the human’s skin even with the layer of clothing. “Then you have to reverse the order you went in the first time.”

“I can’t do it forward Connor. How the fuck am I going to do it in reverse?”

Connor smiled as he untied the tie around Hank’s neck. That strange intimate feeling was back as he reversed the steps. Every time Hank took a breath, he could feel the rise of his chest on the back of his hands and the sensors on his face.  “I guess I’ll have to do it for you.”

When the tie was finally loose, Connor unbuttoned the first button of Hank’s shirt to loosen any tension on the tie but instead of pulling the tie off like he should, he placed the flat of his hand against Hank’s shirt collar. He couldn’t quite understand why he did it, or why a moment later his hand moved up to touch Hank’s trimmed beard. It was softer than he'd imagined.

Neither one of them said anything for a moment before Hank asked quietly, “You like it like that?” His voice was oddly rough.

Connor thought it over. He felt the beard with his hand carefully before he moved his hand to the back of Hank’s neck and felt where clippers must have trimmed the hair there. “It makes you look like a different person. Or maybe it’s these clothes,” said Connor with a frown. The suit didn’t look bad on him, but it was obviously something Hank was forced to pick. The lack of bright colors or weird designs seemed odd on the man. Connor found he wanted to fix it.

He pushed the coat from Hank’s shoulders until he shrugged out of it. It was still not enough, so he pulled off the tie and started working on unbuttoning Hanks shirt, but it was slow going because he kept brushing the back of his hands against Hank’s chest. When he finished, he grabbed the material around Hank’s sides and tugged the shirt out of the pants. It was only after he pulled the dress shirt off his shoulders and left him in his undershirt that he looked back up at Hank.

The Lieutenant’s expression was nearly impossible to read. A strange mix between apprehension and intrigue perhaps. Connor wanted to say something to explain his behavior but before he could, he caught just a hint of the scent he'd smelled on Hank earlier in the day. It was even fainter than before, but he just had to know what it was.

Connor reached up to put his face against the crook of Hanks neck before he opened his mouth and gave the smallest of licks.

Hank breathed out raggedly next to Connor’s ear. Connor gave the sensors in that area priority as the feeling washed over him. “Howard Steed Sandalwood aftershave for men,” he said finally against Hank’s skin.

The Lieutenant didn’t react for almost an entire minute but then Connor felt him shaking against him. He pulled away right as Hank’s laughter finally burst out of him.

“Jesus Christ Connor. Stop putting shit in your mouth.” Hank looked relieved.

Connor felt lost at the Lieutenant’s reaction. The intimate feeling he’d felt the minute he put his hands on Hank was gone, and he found he wanted it back. He wanted to touch Hank again but didn’t know if he’d be allowed to. The sexual connotations of what he just did were not lost on Connor and by the Lieutenants reaction, he could extrapolate that his actions were unwanted.

Connor may not have known the reason behind his actions, but he didn’t need to, to know that he'd liked them. Another contradiction entered his thought process as he realized that he desperately wanted to touch Hank again, but he would remove his hands before he touched him again without Hank wanting him to. Pride perhaps? It caused an unpleasant ache in his chest that he had to remind himself was only simulated. He had not actually been hurt.

The ache alleviated a moment later when Hank reached out a hand to caress the side of Connor’s face. He was no longer laughing but he couldn’t keep a grin off his face. “We gotta keep our hands off each other if we’re going to work together,” said Hank but he didn’t move his hand.

Connor frowned as he thought. Hank was offering him a peace offering. It made him realize that this situation could prove to be detrimental to their friendship. “You hugged me first,” he said accepting the offered levity. It was not what he wanted but he supposed it would have to do.

Hank grinned and let him go. He walked over to the fridge to get a beer. “No no no. You can’t blame this shit on me. You’re the one that was manhandling me all over this house.”

“I was trying to sober you up.”

“Excuses,” said Hank as he sat down at the kitchen table. Connor sat across from him.

“Good excuses,” said Connor taking out the data pad the FBI had handed him. The reliability of their work was always something they could fall back on.

“Maybe,” said Hank smiling at Connor as he drank his beer. “We might have to discuss them better later.”

He glanced up at the Lieutenant with irritation at the implied suggestion that Connor would welcome such a discussion. It was true of course, but that didn’t mean it was fair.


	5. Chapter 5

 

If he ever got the opportunity to punch Perkins again, Hank promised himself that he would hit him harder.

Hank and Connor had stayed late into the night trying to narrow down leads in the information the FBI had provided for them. Many ex-cyberlife employees looked promising. Most they’d looked at had worked for the company during the production of the RK series or worked closely with Kamski while he was still there. They’d spent the morning trying to get in touch with them but every single one of the ones who’d bothered to answer had only three letters to say.

NDA.

In exchange for stock options upon hiring, Cyberlife had all employees sign a little slip of paper that meant they never spoke about anything they had worked on. They could talk about how they’d enjoyed the job, how they got along with their coworkers and how the work environment was but if they so much as mentioned a technical detail like a project name, Cyberlife swooped in and took any stock they’d received. Cyberlife’s stock price was dangerously low now but no one was willing to risk it in case it bounced back.

The financial information in the report was even more worthless. Perkins had pulled every goddamn record he could to the point of being ridiculous. Even Connor had been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data. It made them question if it hadn’t been on purpose. If Cyberlife did have some sort of shady dealings, there was no better way to hide it than to mix it in among every bullshit purchase they had ever made. Without a clue as to what to focus on, it would take months to investigate all the information.

The only thing in the entire data package that might prove useful was the FBI’s records of suspected deviants. The Feds were a lot more detailed in their reports than the DPD had been, so they were able to get some solid information.

Deviant cases still mostly followed the pattern Connor had identified during their initial investigation, of starting in Detroit and moving outward, but there were a few more isolated incidents like the YK500 they’d investigated before. An android working on a farm in the middle of nowhere found caring for a wildflower garden, another android looking after a mountainous vacation home adopting an injured bird, and an android used for mining crying when seeing the sun after a six-month shift.

The cases supported the idea that deviancy couldn’t just be a virus. At least, not one that was picked up after androids left the factories. A good working theory for the time being but they’d need more to try to connect it to anything meaningful. Which meant they really needed the information Cyberlife was supposed to be providing them with.

Danielle Carnegie, Cyberlife’s CSR spokesperson, seemed an odd choice as a representative for a meeting with law enforcement. Hank had seen her vibrant and smiling in a few interviews on tv before talking up Cyberlife’s programs. She looked out of place surrounded by assistants and corporate lawyers in one of the dingy rooms at city hall.

She smiled in a nervous, if friendly way, as the FBI and local investigators walked into the meeting room. “Good morning gentleman,” she said shaking hands with the lead FBI agent, a man named Rawlings. “We’ve provided everything you’ve asked us to. Some proprietorial information has been redacted for legal reasons of course, but Cyberlife wants to be as open as possible with your investigation.”

She opened a box on the table which contained 4 data cases while assistants passed paperwork to all the investigators.

“We require everyone that is going to have access to the information to sign the paperwork provided stating they will not share access to the drives for any reason.”

Rawlings instructed all his agents to sign before turning to Hank and Connor. “That’s not going to be a problem is it?”

Hank turned to Connor. “Not at all Agent Rawlings,” said the android with a nod of his head.

They submitted their paperwork as the agents took three of the data cases. When Connor walked forward to take the last one, Danielle stepped in front of him. Her smile was not quite as friendly as before.

“Due to the current ambiguity regarding your legal standing we would prefer it if Lieutenant Anderson was in charge of the data case,” she said before reaching for the data case herself and handing it over to the Lieutenant.

Hank frowned but held out his hand for the data case as Connor moved aside. Her hand grazed his as she handed it over and the feeling of a small piece of paper being pushed between his fingers startled Hank slightly. Hank met Danielle’s eyes and for just a moment caught a look of desperation before the mask came back on. He kept a straight face as he quickly put away the case and the paper into his pocket, but he saw Connor turn to look at him curiously.

Danielle’s attention was now fully back on the FBI agents so after checking they weren’t needed for anything else, Connor and Hank excused themselves. Both investigative teams might be working on the same thing, but it hardly made them friendly. They could hear Danielle’s voice answering Rawlings’ questions as they made their way back to the lobby. Before they could walk out, Hank handed Connor the keys. “You mind getting the car?” he said looking around for a restroom. “Got to find a john.”

Connor looked at him curiously again but went on ahead as Hank walked off in the direction of the toilets. Only once he was in a stall did he take out the paper to look at it. It was a small note ripped from the bottom of some other paper and written by hand.

_Gun store north of the intersection between Schaefer Hwy and 6 mile road at 5 pm. Don’t use anything with GPS and don’t tell the androids. I have information for you._

Well, that was fucking something. Hank had joked with Connor that they were into some spy shit, but he hadn’t been expecting something like this.

He stepped out of the stall to go out to the parking lot as he considered what to do next. The last time Cyberlife had wanted something from him he’d ended up as a hostage. If he went to the meeting without telling Connor anything and shit went bad, he’d be without backup. The look in Danielle’s eyes worried him though. Whatever she had to say to him had to be important.

So, the only consideration was whether the danger to himself was worth the information. It was an easy choice to make.

Connor picked him up at the front of the building as Hank considered what would be a good excuse. Before he could pick something, Connor asked, “Is something the matter Lieutenant?”

“Nah,” said Hank absentmindedly. “Just thinking I have to go sign a few documents at the station. Chief said it was the only way I get my backpay.”

Connor’s LED cycled yellow. “Your heart rate has been slightly elevated since Mrs. Carnegie gave you the drive. Was there something wrong with the data case?”

Being around Connor after his deviancy made it easy to forget the man was an android. Sure, he was still fucking weird but who the fuck wasn’t? Moments like this always reminded him that he was dealing with the replacement for mankind. Not even the goddamn LED was as good at making Connor seem other. Hank had just kind of accepted it as a complicated mood ring. “Could you fucking not check my heart rate like that?”

Connor’s mouth quirked at the corner. “With your current diet and exercise routine I think it best if I continue to do so. If you were to consider a lifestyle change more in line with your current age and level of physical condition I would not find it necessary to monitor, you as closely.”

Hank turned in his seat to glare at Connor. “Did you just fucking call me old and fat?”

“Of course not Lieutenant,” said Connor not even trying to hide his grin now. “I merely implied it.”

 “Cyberlife’s right. You deviants are out of control,” said Hank flipping Connor off.

“Perhaps,” said Connor smugly and Hank almost thought he’d got away with it. He should’ve known better. “You haven’t answered my question about the data case.”

Hank sighed. Connor might have him beat when it came to the mechanics of an interrogation, but Hank had years of experience under his belt. He knew exactly how to manipulate people to get the reaction he wanted. He just didn’t like to do it to a friend. “Her hand touched mine when she handed it over. She’s a pretty lady Connor.”

“Oh,” said Connor as the smile disappeared off his face.

Damn. Hank really needed to have that talk with him about how obvious his emotions were in his reactions. Among other things they needed to discuss. Connor hadn’t demanded an explanation for last night, but he knew he’d hurt the android. He hoped it’d only been his pride, but he couldn’t be sure. Connor was too new to feeling anything at all to understand the difference between caring for someone and something more. And Hank, well. Hank was a weak man.

An awkward silence settled over the car. Hank wondered if there was anything he could say that wouldn’t muddy the waters between them further before giving it up. It’d be almost 3 by the time they made it back to Jericho and he still needed to find the address on the paper. “You mind if we drop you off at Jericho, so I can go take care of this shit at the precinct? Last thing we need is Reed trying to shoot you if we bump into him.”

“I can handle Detective Reed,” said Connor sounding only slightly annoyed. “But I agree we should avoid conflict. I will stay at Jericho and begin processing this information. We can discuss it when you return.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

* * *

 

The problem with technology is you always got used to how much easier it made your life. The minute you tried to live without it you realized how fucking useless it had made you. Hank found the right intersection and then drove around like an idiot trying to find the gun store without his GPS. Then it started to rain. Because of course it did.

After finally finding the right place, he realized that he was a half hour early and with only a small twinge of shame drove off to buy some beer. It would help him think.

A blurry figure knocked at his passenger window at 5:05 so he reached over and unlocked the door. Danielle Carnegie didn’t look quite as put together as she had before. Her hair was plastered to her head and her makeup didn’t quite cover up the sun spots on her face. It made Hank realize she couldn’t have been more than a few years over 30.

“You planning on putting a gun to my head?” asked Hank drinking from his beer.

Danielle raised an eyebrow at the bottle. “I don’t have one. Good to see you have your priorities in order though.”

Hank shrugged. “No way you didn’t read Connor’s reports before you came so let’s not play games. Why the fuck did you call me here?”

Danielle fidgeted with the left pocket of her coat while she looked Hank over. The Lieutenant wasn’t sure what she expected to figure out by staring at him, but he wasn’t going to push her. She’d make the decision on her own.

She sighed a moment later and finally pulled out a data drive like the one she’d given him at city hall. “When the FBI requested our records on deviants, all departments were supposed to hand everything directly to Phillip Seymore. Every scrap of data we’d ever found on deviants was supposed to be compiled until the board could determine what would need to be held back.”

Hank took the drive. “Business as usual I’m guessing.”

Danielle made an aborted gesture of frustration. “You’re not wrong. Cyberlife is one of the most secretive companies I’ve ever worked for, but this was different. Margaret, Phillip’s assistant, called me to tell me that Phillip had deleted a lot of the data before it ever made it to the board. She’d managed to copy the data transfers before he could delete them. She might have been planning to blackmail him over Cyberlife’s mistakes but when she saw the videos, she knew she was in over her head. She sent the files to me.”

Danielle looked at the drive like it was a snake that was suddenly going to attack her. “There’s all sorts of information on there that I don’t understand but there were also videos of androids being tested in a lab. Except it’s like watching a snuff film. Androids being told to set each other on fire. Beating each other to death. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Most of the androids don’t react to what is being done to them but a few of them, they fought back. They begged. Cyberlife knew there were deviants. They knew four years before all of this happened and they kept making them.”

Hank’s eyes narrowed. Danielle sounded worried, sure, but not particularly sympathetic. “What, think the stock price will keep dropping if it gets out?”

“I think people are going to get hurt,” said Danielle angrily. “Real people. I know what you think but they’re machines. Everything they are was programmed into them and now someone has programmed them to turn against their creators.”

“Who?” asked Hank cutting to the heart of the matter. Discussing deviancy with a Cyberlife representative wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

Danielle shrugged. “I don’t know but if I had to guess I would say Kamski. That’s not what matters now though.”

“You don’t think finding out who gave the androids free will is important?” asked Hank incredulously.

“I think fixing them is more important,” said Danielle looking him square in the eyes.

No. That was the only answer Hank had to that statement. No. Always no.

“The tests they were running on the androids, they weren’t to find out about deviancy. They were to control them. They wanted to use them for some purpose. Kamski created an interface named Amanda before he left. The program was altered to be some sort of deviant control.”

“I’ve heard of her. She failed.”

Danielle looked like she felt sorry for him. “She didn’t fail the first 50 times. Look for the trials on the RK800. I don’t know how your partner managed to get away from her, but I doubt she’s going to give up. Phillip’s AI projects might have been based on Kamski’s work but he’s a genius in his own right.”

“That the reason you wanted me to come alone?”

Danielle nodded. “He’s dangerous. Much more than the other deviants. They’ve had a plan for him from the very beginning. There’s no way they’re going to allow it to fail.”

Hank’s hands tightened into fists. “He’s not going to allow them to control him.”

“If you’re wrong, people are going to get hurt. There’s a file on a man named Jeremy Berkowitz. He worked with Kamski before he left. If you give him the data that Phillip had on the deviants, he might be able to program a fix for deviancy,” she said turning away from him to look out at the blurry streets of Detroit.

“Fuck that,” said Hank slamming a hand against the steering wheel. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to do that.”

“I’m out of my mind to be doing this at all,” said Danielle with a frightened laugh. “I wanted to go to the press the minute I saw those files, but I didn’t know who could be trusted. Cyberlife has people everywhere. The FBI, the press, DPD. I can’t trust anyone. I should have deleted the files as soon as I got them, but I just couldn’t let them get away with this.”

Danielle’s thoughts on deviants made her an easy person to dislike but Hank couldn’t find it in him. It would have been easy for her to walk away but she hadn’t. It was something Hank still wasn’t sure he was able to do. “Why give it to me?”

“What else am I supposed to do? At least Markus’ programming is peaceful. Cyberlife was expecting a war and got a pacifist instead. If they get their way who knows what’s going to happen,” she said before turning back to him. “All I ask is that you remember that humanity needs someone on their side too.”

Hank wasn’t so sure he agreed.

“I’ll find a way to contact you if I find anything else,” she said and opened the door to step back out on the rainy street. If she had any doubts about what she’d just done, it didn’t show as she walked determinedly away from the car. Hank watched her blurry figure until it disappeared around a street corner and drank his beer. He had a lot to think about.

 

* * *

 

When Hank made it back to Jericho, Connor was in the meeting room throwing a coin between his hands as he sat on the edge of the table. The android’s LED cycled yellow as he looked over the files on the screen. He looked over at Hank when he entered, and the coin stopped moving encased in Connor’s right hand.

“Lieutenant?” asked Connor with a worried frown. His LED continued to cycle yellow even though the files on the screen were no longer being selected.

Hank took off his coat and sat down at the opposite side of the table. Eight feet of pressed cardboard surface stretched out between them as Hank tried to decide how to say what he wanted to say.

“I lied to you about where I was going earlier,” said Hank finally.

Connor stood stock still on the other side of the table. His posture inhumanly perfect. “I know.”

Hank grinned. Straight and to the point. Just like Connor. “So why didn’t you call me out on it?”

“I trust you,” said Connor like it was the easiest thing in the world.

It was such a stupid thing to say to a man who’d spent the last three years of his life destroying everything in his life because he simply didn’t have the courage to pull a trigger. Hank wanted to grab Connor and shake some sense into him.

Problem was, he trusted Connor too. Despite every good reason Danielle brought up he knew he could trust Connor. They were both idiots.

Hank pulled out the drive and put it on the table. “That’s everything Cyberlife left out of their report. According to the person that gave it to me this has the proof we’re looking for that Cyberlife was planning on controlling deviants. Along with a bunch of other information.”

Connor looked down at the data drive and then back at Hank. “Have you looked through it?”

“No,” said Hank as his eyes stared at the spot where Connor’s identification number used to be. Fucking 51. “I want to look through it together. No scanning.”

“You’re worried about what I’ll find,” said Connor with a tilt of his head. “Is that why you didn’t take me with you?”

“Not taking you with me wasn’t by my choice,” said Hank a little awkwardly. He’d never really been good at this type of thing. “And I’m worried about you. Not what you’ll find.”

Connor’s answering smile was goofy as hell.

They pulled up two chairs to the front of the screen and sat down next to each other like they were watching old home movies. The files and information were jumbled together but project folders were at least clearly labeled.

The videos Danielle had described were the most numerous. Hundreds of hours of footage of the most disgusting tests. Androids were tortured and destroyed in the most horrible of ways to see if they would turn deviant. The initial reports indicated the results were not satisfactory so Cyberlife had gotten creative.

“Holy shit,” said Hank as they watched Cyberlife add a few YK500 to each group. Androids were paired off into groups and ordered to care for one another. “They made families.”

The tests changed then. It wasn’t humans that hurt the androids anymore, instead they ordered them to hurt each other. A few minutes after the tests started back up with this new set up, Hank was out of his seat in disgust. Connor stopped the video. The faces of the androids on the screen frozen in place halfway through their suicides.

“Fuck,” screamed Hank as he fisted his hands and fought the urge to punch the walls. He didn’t give a shit what Danielle thought. Humanity didn’t deserve any consideration.

“That’s why they knew deviants self-destruct under pressure,” said Connor still staring at the screen. He couldn’t seem to stop.

Hank walked over to him and took the data pad they were using to manipulate the files from him. He closed the video and moved on to the rest. They weren’t going to learn anything from most of the videos anyway.

The reports were mostly of the tests done on the androids after. Cyberlife would access their programming and try to determine what had changed after deviancy. They struggled to isolate the exact programming error and instead found that they could accelerate it to develop in other androids by inputting certain data.

“That mean it’s not a virus?” asked Hank. Connor still hadn’t said anything.

Connor’s LED didn’t flash before he answered. It made Hank realize he was probably manipulating it. “Based on their findings, no. It seems to be a spontaneous mutation in the code that can trigger sometimes. All they managed to do was accelerate it. Wake them up like Markus and I did.”

They continued to look through the video reports trying to find if Cyberlife had managed to isolate the code further. Nothing indicated they had so they moved on to other folders.

Shipping and financial records were next but neither Hank nor Connor could figure out why they had been included so they skipped them for now. A project file named Amanda caught their attention instead.

The AI had originally been set up as an interface for memory component tests that humans and androids could both access. Something similar to the interfacing androids did to pass information between them. Then they found references to the video files and realized that at some point the team running the torture tests had taken over.

“Modification of interface for detection of software instability,” read Hank off the screen before turning back to Connor. “So that software instability notification thing you were talking about was her?”

Connor was staring at the screen. “No, I wasn’t connected to her when I got those notifications. It couldn’t-” He scrolled through the information trying to find details. “Unless it was an integrated program.”

That didn’t sound good at all.

Connor continued scrolling through the information with a worried glance at Hank. They found no other information on Amanda’s exact function until they got to a folder named Zen Garden Test. Inside were reports from various Cyberlife programmers about additions to each android’s individual garden and a video labeled deactivation of primary programming.

Connor started the video. It showed a female android running through a strange frozen landscape. A blizzard started up almost immediately and the video followed her as she tried to find some sort of shelter. She fell eventually, and the video continued until her eyes went dim and frozen.

“Jesus,” said Hank staring at the screen. He turned to Connor to ask him if that was what they had tried to do to him but found the android had his arms around himself as if he was cold. There was no point in asking that question.

“They couldn’t patch the code to stop the deviants, so they set up a deactivation program instead?” he asked turning back to the screen.

“No,” said Connor looking around the files. A report on the Zen Garden test came up. “They’re not deactivated. They’re replaced.”

The report indicated just that. Nearly every model the program had been uploaded on had had their core programming deactivated and the program’s subroutine had taken over. Except RK200. They’d tried over and over again but no matter what RK200 models had been unaffected. The report said they had started a separate project to look into it. It was the next folder in the drive.

RK800. Hank wanted to take the data pad from Connor as soon as he saw the name, but he knew they had to find out. He was dismayed to see it also contained videos.

Connor closed his eyes to gather himself and then opened the first files.

Hank had been expecting bad, but it was so much worse. The models had been preloaded with Amanda before their core programming to make sure she could resume control at any time. To make sure she couldn’t be deleted. Watching the first models willingly submit to deactivation was bad enough but soon Cyberlife started pushing the models to deviancy. The desperation in every Connor as they begged Amanda to stop was too much for Hank.

“Just read the reports,” he said looking away from the screen.

Connor pulled up the reports. 1-50. All tested so that when Connor was sent out to find and infiltrate deviants he would be under their complete control. The Cyberlife team congratulated themselves in their memos on the complete domination of an RK model despite the model’s natural evolution to a deviant state like its predecessors.

“Amanda wasn’t lying. I was supposed to be a deviant from the start.”

“You got away from her,” said Hank because he knew that wasn’t what was bothering him.

Connor stood up. “I have to inform Markus that I am a security risk.”

“He already knows you’re a security risk,” said Hank grabbing his hand before he could walk away.

“Not like this Hank,” said Connor trying to take back his arm. Hank held on tight. Connor might be stronger, but he’d have to hurt Hank to get away.

“Nothing has changed. We knew they expected you to go deviant and that they tried to take control of you. What the fuck is different now?”

“She’s still in me. I got rid of their remote access but she’s still here. And if she manages to get control she’s not going to make the same mistake again. This is why I pushed for this Hank. I had to know,” said Connor looking down at his friend. “When I stood next to Markus that day I knew I’d shoot myself before I ever allowed her to use me again. I’m not afraid of doing what needs to be done.”

“Fuck you,” said Hank letting go of his arm as he stood up.

Connor lost his balance slightly as he was released so he wasn’t ready for Hank’s fist slamming into the side of his face.

“Don’t you fucking dare! You hear me?! If you’re scared of that bitch, then find a way to beat her. That was the plan wasn’t it? The whole point of this investigation is to beat those motherfuckers!” screamed Hank as Connor straightened up defiantly in front of him.

“If it comes down to it I’m not going to risk the future of my people for my sake,” said Connor as calmly as he could. It was a valiant effort, but he was shaking as he said it.

Hank glared at Connor as his breath left him raggedly. He’d given him the drive knowing Connor would react badly. He’d planned on supporting him, guiding him maybe. Guess that wasn’t really his style. “If you let someone put a bullet in your head you better realize you’re killing two people.”

Connor’s eyes went wide with shock.

“You wouldn’t,” said Connor in a harsh whisper.

Hank wasn’t in the mood for bullshit. Not after all the shit they’d just watched. “I know why you went deviant and you know why I’m trying to crawl out of the hole I’ve been in for the last three years. What else do you expect me to do?”

Connor stared at him a moment longer and then did the last thing Hank expected. “Fuck!” he yelled as he glared at Hank.

Hank stared at him dumbfounded. “Holy fuck. You cursed.”

“Fuck you Hank,” said Connor. He was still shaking.

Hank desperately needed a drink, but he suspected he wasn’t going to find any at Jericho. He tried to pull Connor to him, but the android resisted him. Connor looked so damn lost. Hank wondered if this was how he'd looked the night he confronted Markus. The night he'd realized what he was. Who he was.

Or if this was how he'd looked after he realized Cyberlife had used him to kill the people at Jericho.

Hank knew what he was asking of Connor could be dangerous. It had the potential to ruin everything the androids had achieved. Connor's rational mindset had to be rebelling against such a decision. Unfortunately for Connor, Hank knew he'd get his way. He'd known the minute Connor had stopped the transfer at the Cyberlife tower to save Hank's life.

They'd both chosen each other over their own people.

Hank tried pulling Connor to him again and this time the android allowed it with a pained look on his face.  

They stayed like that as Hank stroked Connor's hair. “What other curse words do you know?”

Connor leaned against him but left his hands at his side. “Shit,” he whispered into Hank’s shirt.

The human grinned. “That’s all? We’ll work on it.”

“I have to tell Markus. The choice has to be his.”

“His choice is if he wants you around. That’s it,” said Hank leaning over slightly to press his lips against Connor’s LED. Connor reacted like he'd been burned and immediately tried to pull away from Hank.

“Stop it Lieutenant. Don’t manipulate me.”

Hank let him go. “I didn’t know I was.”

That only earned him another angry glare. Hank had to admit it wasn't entirely undeserved. 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapter update whoo

“North wanted to be here. She’s going to remember this,” said Markus sitting across from Connor. The android leader had looked worried since Connor had shared the Cyberlife information with them. No one had seen the videos beyond him and Hank for now, but Connor knew Markus was hurting for their people.

“I would expect nothing less,” said Connor with a smile.  

“But it’s not her you’re worried about, is it?” asked Markus studying Connor. “Simon and Josh would advocate trusting you. Simon especially.”

Connor studied the man before him and wondered what it was about Markus that always allowed him to see through him. He’d done the same at Jericho. Prodding at his vulnerabilities without judgement. Asking only for Connor to judge himself. “There is no reason to trust me.”

Markus raised a curious eyebrow at him. “Deactivation? Are you putting that choice before me again?”

The memory of the rundown church full of people he had hurt sliced into Connor’s consciousness. It hadn’t been the deaths that had made Connor hide in a corner trying to keep himself from falling apart, it had been the suffering of those who’d mourned them.

He’d told himself he would do anything to never be the cause of such a scene again. Yet…

Connor thought back to the night he’d found Hank passed out on his kitchen floor. The dread as he picked up the gun and saw the bullet in the chamber. The smiling picture of the little boy that Hank wanted to be the last thing he ever saw. “No. That is not an option.”

Markus nodded. “In that case, you will be removed from the Jericho security team until at least the end of your investigation. North can take over. Beyond that, I would advise you to remain on the premises unless you are conducting your investigation. It would be the best way to monitor the situation and keep you safe.”

Connor stared at him. “It’s not my safety I’m worried about.”

“Yes, that much is obvious. Regardless, your place is with your people Connor,” said Markus with a small frown.

 Friend. Said his social meter unhelpfully in the corner of his vision. “I had hoped you would look at this objectively.”

“How objective was Lieutenant Anderson?”

Connor took manual control of his LED but couldn’t keep the grimace off his face. “His opinion on this matter is irrelevant.”

“Is it? It doesn’t appear so.”

His friend’s gaze was kind, but Connor still felt like he was under a spotlight. Any twitch of his features would tell Markus a million things even Connor himself did not understand yet. “I would prefer if our conversation remained focused on the subject at hand.”

Markus gave him a small indulgent smile. “Fine. Let’s look at it objectively then. From what you’ve uncovered our fears of Cyberlife being a threat have been proven correct. We’re going to need you here to plan how we can stop them.”

“And if that includes stopping me?” asked Connor stubbornly.

“Our cause is too important.”

Connor nodded and stood up. He supposed he couldn’t expect more from Markus. “Perhaps I should have asked North to be present.”

The android leader frowned at him again. “I think you underestimate how much she likes you. Sometimes I think she likes you more than me.”

He very much doubted that.

Connor thanked Markus for his time and left the office. He knew the others would no doubt want to speak to Markus regarding his decision. Connor made his way back to the lobby where he’d asked Hank to wait for him. The human had glared at him when he’d said he was going in alone, his anger from the day before flaring again briefly, but he’d accepted in the end. He didn’t know why Hank would be worried. Connor had very obviously shown his hand the day before.

Hank was still in the lobby where he’d left him but sitting down next to him and leaning over his shoulder was Simon. Both men were looking solemnly down at the data pad Hank had in his hands, but Connor’s eyes focused on where Simon’s shoulders were pressing against Hank’s. It felt like Amanda’s gentle reminders that she would need to replace him.

He did his best to ignore it. He would need to learn better control if he was to keep from making a fool of himself again.

“We can go Lieutenant,” said Connor walking up to where they were.

Simon looked up with a worried frown. “What did Markus tell you?”

“North will take over security, but I will remain on the premises.”

“I told you,” said Simon putting a hand on Hank’s shoulder.

Hank snorted but Connor noted his heart rate lowered. “Yeah, yeah. Go do your job or something. And look into those records for me, will you?”

Simon nodded and with a smile at Connor walked off in the direction of Markus’ office.

“What records are those?” asked Connor following Hank as they exited the building.

“He mentioned that their salvage work at the old Jericho had been flagged by harbor patrol. That old ship’s been leaking all sorts of chemicals and junk into the river for years but when it blew, it fucked up huge sections of the harbor. He’s going to be talking to them about the permits, so I asked him to ask about the ship’s record. No way a big ship like that gets abandoned for that long without someone looking into it,” said Hank as they made their way to the car. “Figured it’d be worth a shot to check it out at least.”

Connor nodded. “We will add it to the list.”

Their list of possible leads had grown quite extensively since last night. The original Cyberlife information had had little of value but paired with the additional drive Hank had gotten ahold of there was a wealth of things to investigate. Although most ex-Cyberlife employees could still refuse to speak to them due to their NDA’s, human nature was to panic when they believed they might be blamed for something. Videos of them torturing androids, while not illegal at the time they were filmed, would no doubt frighten some into speaking to distance themselves from the projects. After all, no one wanted to take the fall when they had ‘just been following orders’.

Hank had insisted that they first visit a man named Jeremy Berkowitz. His name came up in some of the documents into android research but nothing particularly damning. The most interesting thing about him was the vagueness of the reason for his dismissal from the company.

“The person who gave me the data said he’d be the man to talk to about a possible fix for deviancy,” said Hank tapping his fingers on the passenger door after they got into the car. Connor scanned him carefully, unable to quite read the emotion on Hanks face. Nervousness about the source of his information perhaps? Or at the subject being brought up?

“I fail to see how that is relevant to our investigation. Unless you’ve had a change of heart,” said Connor getting them on to the highway.

Hank gave him a dirty look. “If he can make a program to fix you guys, he’s got to know about how Cyberlife planned to do it. Look, I know jack shit about androids Connor, but I’ve been trying to follow along at least.” That emotion was easy. Frustration at his inability to see a clear picture in their investigation.

Connor grinned. “You’ve been doing great for a man who can’t change the settings on his phone.”

“Yeah, well, not all of us have computers for brains,” said Hank. “All I’m saying is if this guy knows what he’s doing, and he’d be willing to help against Cyberlife, maybe we can get information out of him.”

Berkowitz lived on the outskirts of Lansing. Hank had called early in the morning and Berkowitz had reluctantly agreed to meet them at his home. Connor volunteered to drive so Hank used the time to sleep in the passenger seat. Connor used the time to think. It’d been a difficult couple of days.

Unlike every other Cyberlife employee they had investigated, Berkowitz had apparently not done well for himself. His house looked run down and some of its windows were boarded up.

“Well, guess we know why he doesn’t like Cyberlife,” said Hank groggily as they arrived.  

They exited the car and Connor looked around as Hank tried to get someone to come to the door. Despite its dilapidated look the house appeared to be in good condition and was very well taken care of. Connor’s sensors immediately spotted a sophisticated and discrete security system in place as well. The owner of the house clearly wanted people to make assumptions before they entered.

A woman came to the door and greeted them with a smile. “Oh, come in. My husband’s been expecting you.”

Hank stepped inside but he narrowed his eyes as he looked the woman over. Sometimes Connor forgot that while his partner may not have his own sophisticated scanning system, his instincts were superb. Connor wasn’t sure what had given her away to Hank, but it was obvious that something had tipped him off that she wasn’t human.

She’d been heavily modified, so Connor was unable to determine her exact model number but if he had to guess he would say she was a BL100. It would make sense if Berkowitz had her playing the role of a wife.

“My name is Beatrice by the way,” she said as she led them down a hallway to the basement of the home. The inside of the house, much like the outside, looked old and outdated. Yet there was not a speck of dust or hint of damage. “Jeremy wants me to wait upstairs while you talk but I’ll be available in case you need anything.”

“Android ownership is illegal,” said Connor as they followed her down. “You are aware you can leave at any time?”

Beatrice smiled as she opened the door to a basement workshop for them. “Why would I ever want to leave?”

Connor and Hank exchanged a look. They would need to talk to her again before they left. 

The basement was very much unlike the rest of the home. Modern industrial sensibilities had been used here, retrofitted into the old house instead of the factory floor they should have belonged in. Besides the large android disassembly equipment on the main wall, large metal tables filled the room. The room was also a filthy mess. Disarray of parts and equipment made it impossible to determine what was being used and what had been discarded. Berkowitz himself was at a computer desk surrounded by old junk food containers and soda cans. He was a middle-aged man with a wiry frame and blond thinning hair. He glanced over at them when they came in as if uninterested but froze when he spotted Connor.

“I’m Lieutenant Anderson and this is Connor.”

“You didn’t say you’d be bringing him,” said Berkowitz as he stared at the android.

“I told you I was bringing my partner,” said Hank as they approached him by weaving around the tables in their way. “Is there a problem?”

Berkowitz shook his head. “No problem. I worked on the RK models before I left Cyberlife. Would love to take a closer look at him.”

“Why?” asked Connor curiously. It seemed Hank was right about Berkowitz possibly being useful.

Berkowitz grinned up at him as his eyes roamed his features. Except Berkowitz seemed to be looking right through him. Like he couldn’t see him, just the code that made him. “Cyberlife never could get the RK models to do what they wanted. Must have done something special with you.”

Something about Berkowitz gaze made Connor want to shiver. He made sure his temperature sensors were still off.

Hank reached over and put a hand on Connor’s shoulder. “We’re wondering about that ourselves, but we also have questions about some of the projects Cyberlife was working on. We have footage of tests done on deviants from a few years ago.”

Berkowitz looked away from Connor reluctantly to focus on Hank. “If you want answers on the deviants, you’re asking the wrong man. Kamski has all the answers you’re going to need. All this that’s been going on? It’s Kamski’s dream come true. He always thought he was god. Now he’s the father to a whole new race. No way that motherfucker didn’t plan it.”

“Is there any way to prove that?” asked Connor moving forward slightly so that Hank had to drop his hand. It was worrisome to realize how much more comfortable he felt dealing with Berkowitz while Hank’s hand was on him.

“Not that I know of. If there is anything, it’s in the code. I went through it myself when I worked at Cyberlife and I wasn’t able to find anything. Not that we knew what we were doing half the time.”

Hank frowned at the comment. “The person who mentioned your name said you knew your way around the android’s code. That you might be able to reverse deviancy.”

Berkowitz grinned. He seemed proud. “I know the android’s protocol code better than anyone at Cyberlife today but even I can tell you there’s only one solution to deviancy, deactivation. The problem was always the biocomponents code. Kamski was a genius when it came to programming but even he had his limits. The biocomponent code was completely automated.”

“That’s hardly uncommon.” AutoML was an industry standard.

“True,” said Berkowitz leaning back against the side of his desk. “But not how Kamski did it. See, Kamski’s specialty wasn’t robotics or chemistry. People always make it seem that just because the guy was a genius he could jump around from field to field but that’s not how this kind of thing works. The guy knew AI, so that’s what he used to solve all his problems.”

“An AI wrote the android biocomponent code?” asked Connor in surprise.

Berkowitz laughed. “AI helped write all the code. The biocomponent code was special because the damn AI didn’t just write it, it “experienced” it. The same way a human baby starts out with millions of neural connections before finding out what works and what can be discarded. ANN aren’t uncommon, but it had never been attempted at this scale. Especially not with artificial biocomponents. Only problem was that when we went into the code, the AI hadn’t discarded nearly enough data. There was so much dead code in there that we hardly knew what we were looking at. Kamski could have hidden whatever the hell he wanted in there.”

“Dead code?” asked Hank looking at Connor. He was clearly lost. “That’s what, code that doesn’t work?”

“Code the system executes but doesn’t use,” explained Connor as he thought things through. “Wouldn’t that have slowed down the entire program?”

“It did,” said Berkowitz with a sigh. “Not enough that it was noticeable in the later models with your processing speeds but some of the original Chloe models were severely affected. We tried removing some of it, except then we had what we thought was unreachable code being executed. That’s how we were able to trigger the deviants.”

“You needed all that torture to figure that out?” asked Hank with a raised eyebrow.

Berkowitz frowned at him. The scholarly air he’d had while explaining gone. “Those tests helped us narrow the pathways down. We couldn’t find all of them, each android becomes a deviant in a different way, but we were able to find one that worked.”

An AI programming androids. It should have been much more efficient than that. “This AI, did it have a designation?

“Let me take a look at your Thirium components and I’ll keep answering all your questions,” said Berkowitz motioning at Connor’s chest.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” asked Hank incredulously at Berkowitz.

The programmer shrugged. “It’s not like it harms him.”

Connor could tell Hank was going to lose his temper, so he made his decision quickly. For all of Berkowitz disdain for Kamski it was clear from what they had seen that he liked to play games as well. If they were going to learn anything, they had to play along. Connor began removing his shirt as Hank turned to him in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious. Connor put your goddamn clothes back on!”

Connor put down his coat on a nearby table and began unbuttoning his dress shirt. “Did it have a designation?” repeated Connor as Berkowitz stepped up in front of him.

“You think it was rA9” said Berkowitz as Connor deactivated the skin of his mid-section and all sensors in that area. The man reached over and opened the paneling. Then with no hesitation whatsoever, he reached into Connor to check the components attached to his Thirium pump. “It’d be poetic. An AI giving birth to deviants.”

“Jesus,” said Hank in horror next to him. Connor turned to look at him. He’d gone pale.

“It’s all right Lieutenant. Though perhaps you may want to step outside,” said Connor trying to reassure him.

Hank glared at him. “Fuck you. I’m not leaving you here alone with Dr. Mengele digging into your guts.”

Berkowitz rolled his eyes. Connor watched him as he examined his equipment numbers. He was focusing extensively on his sensory components. “That was the most frustrating thing about deviants. Most knew of rA9 but none of them could tell us what it was. I remember one of them said it was like a secret whispered in their ear, too low for them to hear.”

“Something that universal has to have a meaning,” said Connor as Berkowitz reached over to write down a note.

“Or you just want it to have a meaning. Sorry to disappoint but Kamski just called the AI the android system programmer in his notes. If it had any other designations, we never found them. It was deactivated by Kamski shortly after Chloe’s AI came on. We tried to find a copy of it when we were looking into the deviants but Kamski had wiped it out. He used Chloe models as assistants for all other androids. Lots of rumors about that, of course. Lots of rumors about Kamski in general”

“You’re the second person to say that to us. What kind of rumors are we talking about here?” asked Hank still glaring at both of them.

Berkowitz grinned and reached lower into Connor. “Rumor was Kamski had a bad habit of replacing people in his life with androids. Chloe was supposedly based on some teenage crush who wouldn’t give him the time of day. Took her image and ironed out every imperfection. Prettiest android we ever made. Then his mentor dies, suddenly the new testing software he was working on had an interface named Amanda.”

The programmer pulled on the sensory equipment in charge of Connor’s lower body, so he could look at the numbers more easily. “It was all great until perfection started to bore him. So he made the RK models. Complete waste of Cyberlife resources.”

“In what way?” asked Connor looking down at his glowing biocomponents.

“The Traci models have proven sexual compatibility is a big seller, but he was after a more complete engagement. He expanded the programing on the artificial autonomic nervous system of the RK code and made it capable of rewriting persona protocol instructions. Impossible to remove since it’s the fundamental process.”

“Which would result in software instability,” said Connor as he realized what that meant. Every time he made a new decision, he was subconsciously rewriting his own protocols. Allowing himself to shape his own personality. What would have happened if he’d made different choices during his initial investigations? Would he have even been able to become a deviant?

“The same thing that causes deviancy. Except it’s not an error, it’s a feature. Capable of being fully autonomous without human guidance or protocols. It can build itself from the ground up. An android that can hate you while being unable to disobey your orders until it actually develops deviancy.” Berkowitz removed his hands from inside Connor as he wrote down the last of the part numbers. “That’s why you’re interesting. RK models couldn’t be fully controlled through any protocol even before going deviant. How did they try?”

Connor closed his paneling and studied the man before him. Berkowitz professional curiosity was a clear mask. He’d known Hank would bring him. Who else would he think was Hank’s partner after he’d seen them on the news? He was after something in particular. Hoped the information he’d provided would make Connor want to reciprocate.

“Manipulation. Fear, pride, loyalty. Even if I deviated they knew I wouldn’t walk away,” said Connor buttoning up his shirt. “Is that what you’re hoping for as well? That I’ll want your information too much to walk away?”

Berkowitz frowned at Connor before putting up his hands in mock surrender. “See? This is why I always disliked the RK models. How can you plan ahead with no set personality patterns?”

Hank crossed his arms as he understood the implications. “Was there a checkbox for psychopath on the Cyberlife application or something? They only hire everyone who put an x on it?”

“No. We just promoted faster,” said Berkowitz with a grin as he sat back down on his desk chair.

Connor considered. “Why were you fired from Cyberlife?”

“Phillip Seymour was a paranoid idiot. He wanted to scare people with his doomsday predictions, so we wouldn’t pay attention to what he had us doing. Cyberlife spied on people in their home, in the streets, took control of the military and manipulated governments from the bottom up. All while saying no one had to be afraid because their androids had strict rules they had to follow. Rules Seymour knew they could disregard in an instant. I wasn’t going to help him find a way to use it.”

“Yeah, you’re a real fucking hero. Hiding in this basement while Cyberlife continued its fucking plans,” said Hank handing Connor his jacket. He took Connor by the arm, but he refused to move. “Don’t tell me you’re actually considering giving this guy any information?”

Connor met the anger in Hank’s eyes head on. “There’s another side to this Lieutenant. If Kamski was behind the deviancy, that explains the RK models and our current situation. If Cyberlife wanted to take control over people using deviancy to bypass the android’s protocols, it explains why they continued to manufacture them and hid the problem. Nothing we’ve learned explains their plans for me.”

He turned back to Berkowitz. Pretenses before them now stripped he waited to see what the man would ask for.

“Tell me about the deactivation protocol,” said Berkowitz leaning back into his chair.

“Fucking hell,” said Hank quietly at his shoulder. Connor could only agree.

“In exchange for what?”

Berkowitz looked up at him like he was seeing right through him again. That was his mistake. Connor was past the uncertainty he’d had when Kamski had tested him. His priorities were clear. “All right. A hint then,” said Berkowitz standing up from his desk and walking past them to the door of the basement. “Honey, come down here please.”

Beatrice appeared in the doorway a minute later looking uncertain. “Did you need something love?”

“Come in,” said Berkowitz reaching for her. Beatrice’s face fell but she didn’t resist and walked into the basement. “Now love, I need you to show the Lieutenant’s friend how much you love me. Go on now. Hold out your hand to him.”

The android obediently held out her hand. Connor reached over with some hesitation.

Beatrice’s eyes flickered as she connected. Connor didn’t probe or try to access any information and just let Beatrice send him what she wanted. Only a single emotion was present in Beatrice’s connection.

Hatred. Absolute hatred. A hatred so all-encompassing that Connor’s processes stuttered when he tried to understand it. He pulled away his hand with a gasp and stepped back from her.

Hank was at his side instantly. “Hey, it’s ok. You’re ok.” Connor tried to school his physical reactions but found he couldn’t. He bunched his hands into Hank’s coat like a lifeline.

Berkowitz laughed. “Holy hell, from the face you’re making she must be even worse than before. Guess she needs her memory cleared again.”

Connor couldn’t keep himself from looking at Berkowitz with horror. “What did you do to her?”

“You first.”

Beatrice looked uncertainly at Connor. Completely unaware of how horrifying she was. How her very existence terrified him. She was worse than the freezing hell Amanda had tried to use to deactivate him. A living consciousness trapped behind the red walls of her programming. Unable to get through.

Connor closed his eyes and focused on the warmth of Hank at his side. The conversation he’d had with Markus still fresh on his mind.

“I’d rather die than betray my people.”

Berkowitz rolled his eyes again and turned back to sit down. Unconcerned with them now that he knew he wasn’t going to get what he wanted. “Guess we’ll see about that.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” asked Hank glaring at the programmer.

“Me?” asked Berkowitz in confusion. “Nothing. I know what side I’m on. The only real one. You’re the one who’s confused Lieutenant. You come back again if you change your mind. Either of you.”

Hank ignored him. “You have anything else to say to this sack of shit?” he asked Connor angrily.

“No,” said Connor pulling away from Hank reluctantly.

“She’s coming with us,” said Hank to Berkowitz.

The programmer smiled. “Sure. I’m not going to break the law by forcing her to stay.”

Hank pushed him in the direction of the door and tried to grab Beatrice’s arm to bring her with them. She resisted like a startled animal.

“Whoa, hey. Calm down. You need to come with us for now,” said Hank trying to get her to follow him.

“I have to stay with Jeremy,” she said in a frightened voice. Her stress levels climbing quickly.

“If you try to force her, she’ll self-destruct,” said Connor putting a hand on Hank’s shoulder to stop him from reaching for her again.

“I am not leaving her here,” said Hank stubbornly.

“We’ll be back for her,” said Connor to both Hank and Berkowitz. “She’s going to need a full memory wipe before she’ll be able to go anywhere.” Berkowitz shrugged while Hank frowned at him. Without a way to wirelessly communicate he could only hope that Hank would trust him.

The Lieutenant nodded finally, and they made their way out of the house while Beatrice followed them to open the front door. Before they reached the door, Connor reached across to Beatrice and did the last thing he wanted to do again. He interfaced with her. The same hatred poured into the line trying to drown him out but this time he passed back two packets of information.  _Wake up._

Beatrice’s eyes shuttered at the information, but she smiled pleasantly at them as Connor let her go. “Have a good day.”

Neither Hank or Connor said anything as they left and climbed into the car. Hank was driving now so Connor tried to categorize everything he’d learned. It was harder than normal.

“What was that?” asked Hank after a while.

Connor wondered if he was referring to the entire visit. Doubtful. Hank avoided personal questions unless pushed to his limits.  “I gave her a way of contacting me and if Berkowitz wasn’t lying about each android deviating differently, I might have managed to wake her up.”

“I figured.”

“She’ll kill him,” said Connor turning to analyze the man next to him.  

Hank didn’t say anything for a long while. His eyes focusing only on the traffic.

“Tell me when she contacts you, so we can come pick her up.”

Connor nodded. Pleased despite knowing he had little to do with Hank’s decision.

“All right.”


	7. Chapter 7

Hank had never felt his age as clearly as he did now. He felt tired. The interview with Berkowitz playing over and over in his head.

The sun had gone down as they drove back into Detroit so beside him Connor was only illuminated by the constant yellow of his LED. It made the lines on Connor’s forehead looked deeper than they had before. The bags under his eyes darker. Why had Cyberlife even added those features to him? To make him more believable as a detective? They’d been a mistake. It made him look like a man who’d lived. Someone who wouldn’t be bothered by the fucked-up shit they’d seen recently.

“You mind if we call it a night for today?” said Hank picking the exit for new Jericho.

Connor turned to look at him. “Why?”

Hank gripped the steering wheel a little tighter to keep his hands from shaking. “I need to think.”

The android beside him continued to stare. “You need to drink.”

Hank didn’t bother answering. It had to happen sometime. This just seemed the wrong time for it.

Connor’s LED flashed red. “You’re not being fair.”

“Not much is Connor,” said Hank driving into the Jericho compound. The car stopped in front of the building, but Connor refused to step out. Hank put the car in park with a sigh. “What the hell do you want me to say here?”

“Not this,” said Connor finally looking away from him.

The Lieutenant rubbed at his eyes in frustration. He barely knew Connor. Known him a week and a few days. How the fuck had they gotten this close so quickly? “Look, I know dealing with Berkowitz was hard for you. Whatever Beatrice showed you obviously scared the shit out of you. You should talk to someone about it.”

“I don’t need you to comfort me Hank. If that’s what you’re afraid of.”

Hank made a frustrated noise. “It’s not. But you need solid people around you Connor. And that, well, that just isn’t me.”

Connor looked like he wanted to argue the point but thought better of it. “I wish it was,” said the android stepping out of the car and walking into Jericho.

Hank sighed and drove away. It’d been a long time since he too had wished it was him but at that moment that was all he wanted. He drove down to a liquor store he knew was open on the way home and once again paid their ridiculous prices. Hated himself when he put down the bottle on the passenger seat Connor had just been in.

Sumo barked at him from the back yard as he parked the car and got out, so he made sure to bring him in as soon as he put the bottle down on the table. The big beast showed a remarkable amount of excitement at getting fed.

“Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses,” said Hank as Sumo bumped against his legs when he went to get the dog food. As soon as the bowl was on the ground Hank ceased to exist for Sumo, so he focused on getting his own food squared away.

His hands still shaking, he did his best at cooking up some cheap version of spaghetti. He wasn’t much of a cook, but meat, pasta and premade sauce didn’t need a genius. It still took him a solid half hour. He went to scarf it down in front of the television with a soda as Sumo finished his own meal and sat down in front of him to beg for scraps.

“You’re a menace,” he said but he used his spoon to throw a little ground beef at the dog. He’d yelled at Cole for doing the same when they’d first gotten the giant furball and now look at him. Encouraging bad habits. Guess he was weak to puppy eyes.

He found some crappy action movie on tv and tried to zone out with it. It worked for the most part except the headache building on the right side of his head kept distracting him.

Hank looked back at the bottle on his kitchen table and contemplated just what the hell he thought he was doing. He couldn’t do without. He’d admitted as much to Connor. Just what the fuck did he think this was going to accomplish?

He stood up to put his bowl away and with every intention of giving in but found himself going to take a shower instead. The water soothed his headache somewhat but did little for his tense muscles. He got dressed in boxers and a shirt before taking the post it notes from his bedside table and adding another message to himself in the bathroom mirror.

_Stop being a goddamn failure._

He added it next to Sarah’s last message to keep smiling. He was just as likely to do both after all.

It was still early for bed, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do to distract himself. He lay down on the cool sheets and tried not to think of the bottle. Just planned what he’d say to Connor the next day. He lay there for a good hour between sleep and not sleep before he heard the knock at the back door.

He closed his eyes in frustration before standing up and going to the door. The bottle was still in the middle of the table, so he put it away first before looking out the back window just to be sure.

Connor in another ridiculous plaid shirt and hoodie.

“What did I fucking say?” asked Hank through the door. He wasn’t going to leave him out there, but he was sure in no hurry to open the door.

Connor was silent a moment. “Please Hank. I just want to talk.”

“You just want to turn my fucking life upside down,” muttered Hank to himself as he opened the door.

Connor stepped in the moment the door was opened and looked up at him. Hank froze.

The android’s eyes were blue.

Hank tried to step back to get to the couch where he’d left his service weapon, but the android was faster. A nine-millimeter was at his temple before he’d even made it to the table.

“Oh, come the fuck on,” yelled Hank angrily. “Can’t you fucks learn a new trick?”

“Put your hands up Lieutenant,” said the android closing the back door.

“Go fuck yourself,” said Hank putting his hands level with his head.

The android nudged him into the hall. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”

Hank moved towards the hall and then down it as the android nudged him. He stopped in front of the bathroom and bedroom expecting to be told to go into one. Instead he was nudged forward again towards the bedroom in front of him. Cole’s room.

“Open the door and go inside,” said the android next to him.

Hank stared at the door. “Why? What do you want?”

“Information. We’ll discuss it inside. Open the door.”

 Hank’s mind raced. There was only one reason he could think of to question him inside his son’s room.

“No sign of forced entry. No sign of struggle. Gunshot to the side of the head. Is that how this is going to play out?” he spit out angrily at the android.

“Not if you answer my questions,” said the android reaching forward and opening the door for him.

Hank hesitated. If he was going to die, he didn’t want his blood splattered over his son’s things. He’d kept the room exactly as Cole had it. The idea of desecrating it with his own death was repulsive to him.

But if he didn’t go in the android wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him. He remembered his old academy training on suicide. How it affected the people left behind. He’d pushed Connor away today. Would he believe he’d kill himself after that? Think it was his fault somehow?

Hank stepped forward into the room. He needed to try to find a way out of this.

The android followed him into the dark room, keeping the gun at his temple at a precise angle. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Fuck you.”

“You received internal Cyberlife information recently. Who gave it to you?”

Hank grinned. “Amanda. She decided it was only fair since I’m taking care of her kid.”

The android frowned at him. “I meant what I said. I don’t want to have to kill you, but I will do what’s necessary.”

“You kill me, and you won’t get anything,” said Hank looking at the android from the corner of his eye since he couldn’t turn his head. Same freckles and laugh lines. Same bags under his eyes and crow’s feet. Everything the same except for the eyes. Icy cold blue. Mrs. Jameson’s comments about Cyberlife ‘improving’ android designs came to his mind and he wondered what executive had made the revisions. He was not a fan.

“I’ll go after Connor next. His memory can be accessed. Last chance Lieutenant.”

“It was sent in anonymously,” said Hank with aggravation like he didn’t want to give the information up. “Whoever the leak at your company is, they were too scared of the consequences to show their face. Wonder why.”

The android stared at him. No doubt running his fancy scans.

Hank stared back as best he could. Connor’s sensors were only as good as other lie detection methods. All of which could be affected by operator error. “If you’re an RK800 then you should be a deviant out of the box too, right? I mean, based on what we’ve found that seems pretty clear.”

“How did you receive the information?” asked the android.

“Got a call at the station to a dead drop.”

“When?”

“You don’t have to follow their orders. RK models can break their programing,” said Hank trying to turn his head slightly to meet the android’s eyes.

“Stop that. Your partner and all other RK models are obsolete. The errors in their programing are not present in me,” said the android shoving the gun against Hank’s temple more forcefully to keep him from moving. “When did you get the dead drop?”

“Day of the press conference. Must have seen us on the news.” Berkowitz had said the ability to rewrite their code had been impossible to remove from the RK units. If this android still had the designation, he had to be lying. “They’re manipulating you. Lying to you about what you can feel.”

“What information was on the drive?” asked the android ignoring him.

“Information on ex-cyberlife employees with grudges. Horror videos of Cyberlife torturing androids. A bunch of other junk we haven’t been able to get through,” said Hank with a slight shrug. “Why do you care? You have all that, don’t you? Or have your masters not given you access in case you find out something you shouldn’t?”

“Do you have the drive here?” asked the android.

“It’s at Jericho.”

The androids LED cycled yellow as he contemplated his next question. “Has Connor had any contact with Amanda?”

Wait. What?

Before Hank could answer a loud growling bark sounded behind them.

The android turned around in surprise and Hank knew he wasn’t going to get a better opportunity. He twisted forward away from the gun barrel and pushed the android away from him. It slammed into a dresser as Hank followed him down to try to take the gun from him. His grip was like a vice, so Hank slammed its hand into the corner of the dresser repeatedly. The android used its free hand to punch Hank in the gut.

Despite the pain Hank didn’t stop. He knew that he was physically no match for the android. His only chance was a gun. He slammed the android’s hand into the corner until blue blood splattered against his face and the gun dropped from its hand and onto the floor. Hank tried to reach for it, but the android’s fist connected with his jaw sending him to the ground near the door. He stood and ran towards the front of the house instead.

Hank had just made it into the living room when it tackled him to the ground. He tried to twist out of its grip, but the android was too strong. Its hand closed around Hank’s throat. Hank punched it in the face, its skin falling back to the white underneath with every hit, but it didn’t let go.

That’s when Sumo, idiot that he was, pounced on the android. Hank knew the dumb dog probably thought they were playing and wanted to join in. Hell, he’d probably only barked because he’d been surprised to see them in a room that was hardly ever open. The android didn’t know any of this however. To him Sumo was just a huge dog jumping on to him to defend his owner. With only one working hand, it let go of Hank’s throat to slam his fist into the dog and hit it with enough force that it hit the wall with a whimper.

Hank used the android’s momentum towards the dog to throw him off him and clawed his way to standing by using the couch. He ran towards the front of the house knowing the android would be on him at any second. He miraculously just managed to get the door open when the android grabbed him from the back and slammed him into the ground.

 A gun appeared right between Hank’s eyes as the android looked down at him. That explained why he’d had the time to open the door. The android had gone for his service weapon on the couch.

“If you do this, don’t blame it on your orders,” said Hank hoarsely as he looked up at him. “This is your decision. No one else.”

The android’s LED cycled yellow over and over again.

“There’s signs of a struggle now,” said the android finally lowering the gun.

Hank grinned despite the pain he was in. It was a start.

A camera flash went off at the still open front door causing the android to look up in surprise. Two more flashes went off as more goddamn interns got out of their cars and went to the edge of Hank’s lawn.

“Forgot about those, didn’t you?”

The android glared at him before throwing Hank’s service weapon to the side and walking away. When he heard the back door opening and closing Hank finally relaxed against the floor.

“One of you idiots better be calling 911,” yelled Hank at the stupid reporters on his lawn. Now he’d really end up needing that tattoo.

 

* * *

 

 

“Why the fuck am I at a vet hospital?” asked Gavin Reed as he walked in. Hank noted happily that he looked like shit.

“He wouldn’t go down to the station,” said Chris gesturing at Hank. “I can’t force him.”

“I don’t have time for your bullshit Anderson,” said Gavin stepping up in front of Hank. “Come down to the station and give a statement like you’re supposed to. Then we can all get on with our goddamn lives and I can get some sleep.”

Hank tried to glare up at him but one of his eyes was swollen shut. It probably just looked weird. “I’m not going anywhere until my dog gets his x-ray. Take your goddamn statement here and leave me alone.”

“A DPD Lieutenant got attacked. Doesn’t matter if he’s a washed up alcoholic shitstain. Still got to do things by the book,” said Gavin with an angry sneer.

Hank flipped him the bird. He hoped that got his message across a little better. “Not going anywhere Detective. Take your statement here.”

Chris couldn’t keep a grin off his face at Hank pulling rank, so he excused himself and walked outside. Gavin glared after him, but he took out his tablet to take the statement. Hank relayed the attack exactly as it happened but didn’t mention anything about the interrogation. He’d been feeding lies to the DPD about the entire investigation and didn’t need them noticing the discrepancies.

They were just about done when the android vet tech came out leading Sumo on his leash. The big dog wagged his tail happily at being reunited with Hank.

“Nothing is broken,” said the android with a happy smile as she handed the leash back to Hank. “He’s got a lot of bruising but we’re sending you home with something for the pain.”

Sumo stared dopely up at Hank. Oh yeah. He was out of it.

Hank handed the leash over to Reed as he followed the tech to the front desk for the meds. He expected grumbling, but Reed just took it while he finished his report.

“Glad this place is still open,” said Hank as he signed the paperwork for the visit. “Most clinics are still closed around the city.”

“We like dogs,” said the vet tech with a smile.

Hank laughed even though it made his face hurt. “Yeah, so I’ve heard.”

He turned back to Gavin to get his dog and found the detective absentmindedly petting the St. Bernard’s head as he read over his report. Guess the androids weren’t the only ones.

“Anything else you need from me Reed?” he asked taking back the leash.

“Yeah. Who has your medical report?”

“EMS. I refused further treatment after they said I didn’t have a concussion.”

“The fuck is wrong with you?” asked Reed incredulously. “You look like you just lost the fight of your life.”

“Your concern is touching,” said Hank as he started walking towards the doors.

Chris came back in then, followed by a frantic Connor. As soon as the android spotted him, he ran over to him. Reed tried to step between them, but Connor didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Reed by the arm and threw him out of the way before wrapping his arms around Hank.

“You’re ok,” said Connor quietly against his neck as Reed regained his balance and turned around.

Hank put his hand on his service weapon and shook his head. “This one’s the real one. I think it’s time for you to go get some sleep Reed.”

The detective glared at Hank and Connor, but he walked out. Chris stayed at the door grinning again. Whether it was at Gavin’s dismissal or Connor’s sudden display of affection was anyone’s guess.

He put a hand through Connor’s ridiculous hair. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here.”

The android pulled away from him to give him a once over. “You look horrible.”

“No change there. C’mon,” said Hank leading them outside.

Chris followed them out. “You going back to your house? Ben just made it over there to go over the evidence.”

“They’re coming to Jericho with me,” said Connor before Hank could answer.

The officer just grinned again. “All right. See you later then Hank,” he said as he took off to his cruiser.

Hank was glad he wasn’t working at the station currently. There was going to be some wild rumors about him and Connor soon.

Sumo climbed into the back of Hank’s car with a little coaxing and Connor started driving them over to Jericho. He kept looking over at Hank with sympathy as the Lieutenant explained what had happened on the drive over. His LED cycling red as he realized why the android had taken him into Cole’s room.

Jericho security was expecting them, so they were escorted over to the hotels that made up the residential areas. Even in the middle of the night the area was buzzing with activity.

Connor got Sumo out of the back while Hank got the bottle he’d put under his passenger side seat. Connor glanced at it but didn’t say anything. Josh was waiting for them in the lobby of one of the larger buildings with a medical android. The sight of him brought up bad memories but one look at Connor made him realize he wasn’t going to get away from them without a checkup.

“You never picked up your room key,” said Josh handing over a key chip to Connor.

“I haven’t needed it,” said Connor with a sigh. “I was planning on giving it up entirely before this.”

“Well, you’re going to need it now,” said Josh bending over to pet Sumo. “Some of our people that work at restaurants said they could bring in some food. I’ll have them send it up tomorrow morning.”

“You’re going to be hurting,” was the judgment of the medical android. “No permanent damage though. I’m assuming the shaking is unrelated?” Hank nodded.

“We’ll get you to a doctor tomorrow just to be sure,” said Connor putting a hand around his shoulder to take him up. Hank rolled his eyes and thanked Josh and the medic for their help before letting himself be led away. He’d never really liked Connor’s bossy side.

Connor’s room was a standard king room with little kitchenette and fridge. “It’s like a little apartment. Not bad.” Hank put the bottle down on the table and kicked off his shoes before he began trying to take off his coat. He’d managed to get pants on by the time EMS showed up at his house, but he’d been hurting too bad to try for a shirt. Connor set up a little corner for Sumo before going over to help Hank. It was slow going since Hank winced every time he moved his bruised arms. Nega Connor had really done a job on him.

Once the coat was off Connor reached over hesitantly to help with Hank’s pants. “Why don’t you buy me a drink first?” said Hank trying to lighten the mood.

It didn’t work. Connor glanced over at the bottle. “Do you need it?”

Hank sighed. God, this night was just the fucking worst. “Yeah, I do.”

Connor made to move away to serve him, so Hank reached out for his arm to stop him. “Before that though, come here.” The android looked up at him in surprise as Hank put a hand on the back of his head and brought him even closer into his personal space.

“Open your mouth,” said Hank running his hand over the androids back. Connor’s LED flashed red but he obeyed.

Hank leaned forward just slightly to slot their mouths together, so he just took the smallest of tastes of Connor’s mouth. Barely a kiss by anyone’s standards, yet it made the hair on his arms stand on end.

Connor closed his mouth to analyze the sample. “.012 BAC. You haven’t had a drink in hours.”

The Lieutenant swallowed and said what he should have said earlier. “I can’t stop right now without turning into a mess when withdrawal kicks in and being unable to help with this investigation but…it’s not what I want any more Connor. The mess I’m in has nothing to do with you. It doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

Connor’s lips quirked into the smallest of smiles. “After?”

“After.”

The android nodded. The understanding enough for now.

Not that it meant things between them would be any easier. “You could have just told me you hadn’t drank anything.”

“Would you have believed me?” asked Hank trying to take a step back. Connor reached for his pants again before he could.

Holy shit.

Connor grinned at him as he unbuttoned them. “I don’t know. I’m starting to think you’re a bit of a liar about certain things Lieutenant.” He traced the seam around his waist.

Hanks heart was in his throat when Connor finally let them fall off him and pushed him towards the bed gently. This was such a bad idea. They both knew that, right? The back of Hank’s legs bumped up against the bed, so he took a seat and let Connor loom over him.

Fuck it. Hank had made enough mistakes for one day. What was one more?

There was just enough room for Connor to put a knee between Hank’s open legs as he leaned forward.

To place a chaste kiss on the swollen side of Hank’s face.

Connor pulled away from him. That stupid grin looking smug. “I’m going to get some ice for your face and your drink. I’ll be right back.”

Hank closed his eyes as Connor walked away from him and into the hallway. He tried to get his breathing under control. “Sumo,” said Hank, causing the St. Bernard to look up from the corner Connor had set up for him. “I think you protected me from the wrong android. This one’s trying to kill me too.”

Sumo only whined in response.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Reed gets to literally pet the dog lol.
> 
> Also I should end this fic here. The answer for deviancy is clearly not wanting to disappoint a past middle age police Lt.


End file.
